4.  I- 


PRINCETON,   N.  J.  *  If 


Purchased    by   the    Hamill    Missionary    Fund. 

BV  3457  .D4  D38  1914 
De  Forest,  Charlotte  Burgis 
The  evolution  of  a 
missionary 


The  Evolution  of  a  Missionary 


f^tf.mkiak 


The  Evolution  of  a 
Missionary 


A   Biography   of 

John  Hyde  DeForest 

for  Thirty-Seven  Tears  Missionary 
of  the  American  Board,  in  Japan 


By. 

CHARLOTTE  B.  DEFOREST 


Introduction  by 
PROF.  HARLAN  P.  BEACH,  D.D.,  F.R.G.S. 

ILLUSTRATED 


New  York        Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming    H.    Re  veil    Company 

London    and      Edinburgh 


Copyright,    19M,  by 
FLEMING  H.   REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  125  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    Princes    Street 


In  the  Cause 

°f 

World-wide  Brotherhood 


Introduction 

Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.  D.,  F.  B.  G.  S, 

THE  efficiency  and  eminence  of  a  missionary- 
are  largely  determined  by  endowment,  char- 
acter, environment,  method  and  relationship 
to  man  and  to  God.  In  most  of  these  particulars  John 
Hyde  DeForest  was  abundantly  gifted  and  happily 
circumstanced.  God  gave  him  a  wise  head,  a  pure 
heart,  a  sensitive  conscience,  a  buoyancy  of  life  and  a 
faculty  for  friendship  and  love  which  were  fundamental 
in  his  life  of  service. 

His  character,  so  faithfully  portrayed  in  this  volume, 
bore  the  marks  of  the  divine  graving  tool  which  had 
fashioned  it  by  the  varied  experiences  of  a  life  un- 
usually susceptible  to  mental  and  spiritual  influences. 
Its  plasticity  was  linked  with  a  paradoxical  yet  unusual 
firmness ;  its  influence  upon  others  was  as  communi- 
cative and  compelling  as  is  the  spell  cast  upon  artistic 
Japan  by  its  symmetrically  majestic  Fujiyama. 

Dr.  DeForest's  life  could  not  have  been  lived  in  a 
more  favourable  environment.  His  eye,  his  brain,  his 
soul  were  tabula  rasce  ready  to  be  impressed  by  paradisaic 
scenery,  the  chivalrous  deeds  of  mediaeval  daimyos  and 
their  devoted  samurai,  the  modern  miracles  of  a  speedy 
and  victorious  renaissance,  and  the  philosophical  and 
spiritual  aspirations  of  his  beloved  adopted  countrymen. 

While  Dr.  DeForest  was  an  able  exponent  of  various 
methods  of  missionary  procedure,  emphasis  was  placed 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION 

upon  evangelism,  with  literary  and  educational  work  as 
important  minors.  Few  missionaries  have  equalled  him 
as  an  apologetic  and  evangelistic  preacher ;  while  in  the 
literature  of  his  riper  years  the  Japanese  found  a  most 
sympathetic,  reasonable  and  intimate  appeal  to  the 
national  spirit  and  conscience. 

Perhaps  he  will  be  longest  remembered  by  appreciative 
Japan  for  his  personal  attitude  towards  its  unique  people. 
He  studied  them  all  his  life  long;  he  admired  their 
strength  and  sympathized  in  their  weakness;  he  be- 
came all  things  to  them  that  he  might  win  some  for  his 
Lord.  His  attitude  towards  them  in  his  later  years 
was  happily  symbolized  by  the  character  which,  bor- 
rowed from  China,  they  used  for  the  idea  of  friendship. 
In  one  of  its  oldest  forms  it  is  a  pictograph  representing 
two  right  hands  signifying  the  strength  of  a  virile  man- 
hood. He  always  stretched  out  his  strong  right  hand, 
not  so  much  to  seize  hold  of  the  weak  left  hand  of  Jap- 
anese frailty  and  moral  perversity,  as  to  discover  and 
reinforce  the  brawn  and  muscle  of  the  nation's  higher 
strivings.  Such  an  attitude  begot  an  admiration  and 
devotion  to  the  missionary  which  this  volume  hardly 
suggests  in  its  fullness.  Commoner  and  emperor  alike 
felt  its  subtle  charm  and  held  this  faculty  for  friendli- 
ness in  highest  honour. 

But  John  Hyde  DeForest  was  first  of  all  and  last  of 
all,  like  Abraham  of  old,  a  friend  of  God.  He  loved 
men  devotedly  because  God  was  his  Father  and  theirs, 
because  in  Jesus  Christ,  their  Elder  Brother,  they  were 
made  blood  brothers.  It  was  his  study  and  passion  to 
bring  men  to  see  these  distinctive  facts  of  Christianity. 
As  it  was  his  Father's  business  to  reconcile  men  to 
Himself  through  this  Elder  Brother,  so  it  was  His 


INTRODUCTION  5 

missionary  servant's  joy  to  touch  and  save  all  whom  he 
could  in  any  way  intimately  reach. 

It  is  such  a  man  as  this — one  of  the  truest  and  best 
missionaries  of  our  day — whose  faithful  portrait  a 
filial  yet  severely  impartial  daughter  has  here  presented 
to  the  Christian  public.  Among  some  hundreds  of 
missionary  biographies  with  which  the  present  writer 
is  acquainted,  he  does  not  recall  one  which  so  happily 
describes  the  modern  apostolic  life.  Nor  does  he  recall 
a  single  volume  which  is  so  full  of  instruction  to  the 
prospective  missionary  to  advanced  peoples.  Some  will 
disagree  with  Dr.  DeForest's  views  as  to  the  ethnic 
religions  and  even  of  the  Christian  revelation.  Yet  the 
most  conservative  critic,  unless  wholly  obsessed  by  the 
odium  theologicum,  will  bless  God  for  so  Christlike  a 
life  and  so  devoted  a  ministry.  While  such  an  adaptive 
program  is  at  present  most  useful  in  progressive,  phil- 
osophical and  critical  Japan,  it  will  soon  be  demanded 
in  most  of  Asia.  Candidates  and  young  missionaries 
will  find  in  these  pages  a  norm  for  their  own  imitation 
in  those  methods  and  activities  which  are  fundamental 
in  missions ;  while  on  the  spiritual  and  God  ward  side, 
they  may  well  imitate  him,  even  as  he  followed  Christ. 

Haelan  P.  Beach. 
New  Haven,  Conn. 


Foreword 

TWO  or  three  times  during  the  last  few  years 
of  my  father's  life,  when  we  were  walking 
together  on  the  hills,  he  broached  the  question 
whether  the  time  had  not  come  for  him  to  write  a  book 
embodying  the  mature  conclusions  of  his  missionary 
experience.  He  intimated  that  if  he  did  so  he  thought 
a  suitable  line  to  take  would  be  that  of  his  missionary 
evolution ;  he  held  that  the  environment  of  the  mission 
field  in  Japan,  by  opening  his  eyes  to  God's  working  in 
all  the  world,  had  been  the  divine  means  of  his  develop- 
ing far  more  than  would  have  been  possible,  humanly 
speaking,  had  he  remained  in  the  pastorate  in  America. 

What  he  did  not  do  it  has  been  my  happy  privilege 
to  attempt  in  this  book :— not  so  much  to  portray  as  a 
complete  biography  would  the  man  in  all  his  aspects,  as 
to  show  the  interplay  of  the  work  and  the  environment 
upon  his  native  forces  and  the  way  they  wrought  under 
the  hand  of  God  to  make  him  what  he  was.  Where  I 
have  used  material  irrelevant  to  this  line  of  thought,  it 
has  been  to  prevent  distortion  of  the  portrait  through 
too  close  an  adherence  to  the  main  purpose  of  the 
writing, — the  purpose  to  perpetuate  the  message  of  a 
life  open-hearted  and  open-minded  to  God's  ever- 
expanding  revelation  of  Himself. 

To  the  friends  whose  faith  in  the  value  of  this  message 
led  me  to  the  writing  and  strengthened  me  in  it ;  to  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior  and  to  my 

7 


8  FOEEWOED 

fellow- workers  at  Kobe  College,  who  have  so  gener- 
ously allowed  me  time  for  the  task ;  to  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  and  to 
other  friends  who  have  ungrudgingly  granted  me  the 
use  of  letters  or  information  in  their  possession  ;  to  the 
Independent,  the  Congregationalist,  and  the  Christian 
Endeavor  World,  that  have  freely  permitted  the  use  of 
extracts  from  their  pages ;  to  the  Hon.  Kunimune  Date, 
who  kindly  permits  for  the  cover  design  the  use  of  the 
crest  of  the  feudal  house  of  Sendai ;  and  especially  to 
my  mother,  who  has  been  to  me,  as  she  was  to  my 
father,  a  constant  literary  adviser  and  helper,  I  grate- 
fully acknowledge  my  indebtedness. 

Charlotte  B.  DeForest. 
Sendai,  Japan, 


Contents 

I.  The  Missionary  in  Embryo 13 

II.  The  Early  Japanese   Environment  and 

His  Adaptation  to  It 33 

III.  "  A  Preaching  Missionary  " 69 

IV.  Furlough  and  Readjustment       ....  109 

V.  The  Missionary  as  Educator 145 

VI.  The  Missionary  Professionally  and  Non- 

Professionally 185 

VII.  The  Expansion  of  the  Message  ....  225 

VIII.  From  the  National  to  the  International  257 

Appendix 295 

Chronological  Tables  — 

I.    Life  of  J.  H.  DeForest  .     ...  297 
II.    Contemporaneous  Events  in  Japan  298 
Principal  English  Writings  of  J.  H.  De- 
Forest 299 

Map  of  Japan 301 

Index 303 


Illustrations 


John  Hyde  DeForest    .... 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  DeForest  in  1874 

J.  H.  DeForest  in  His  Library  at  Sendai 

Rev.  S.  Katagiri  and  Family 

Cover  of  Tract  on  "  Mixed  Residence" 

In  the  Military  Hospital  at  Liaoyang 

J.  H.  DeForest  in  1908 

Last  Photograph  of  J.  H.  DeForest 


.  Frontispiece 
Opposite  page       30 

148 

210 

260 
266 
280 
290 


11 


I 

The  Missionary  in  Embryo 


"  He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never 
call  retreat ; 
He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before   His 

judgment  seat ; 
O  be  swift,  my  soul,  to  answer  Him !  be  jubilant, 
my  feet ! 

Our  God  is  marching  on." 

— Julia  Ward  Howe. 


THE  MISSIONARY  IN  EMBRYO 

THE  young  teacher  was  early  at  his  desk  in  the 
little  country  schoolhouse  that  wintry  morn- 
ing. It  was  not  so  much  that  he  had  the 
day's  work  to  prepare,  as  that  he  was  wondering  how 
to  meet  his  boys.  He  knew  how  they  had  put  out  his 
predecessor ;  and  now  he  had  heard  that  they  were 
going  to  put  him  out  too !  Yes,  and  put  him  out  they 
could,  for  he  was  only  sixteen,  and  rather  short  at 
that ;  whereas  some  of  his  twenty  pupils  were  older 
and  larger  far  than  he.  He  did  not  claim  to  be  a 
thoroughly  equipped  teacher,  but  at  least  he  knew 
more  than  his  pupils  did ;  and  self-respect,  as  well  as 
the  exigencies  of  self-support,  demanded  resistance  to 
the  rumoured  intentions  of  his  scholars. 

As  he  sat  thinking,  the  door  opened  and  the  largest 
boy  in  school  walked  in.  He  laid  down  his  books  and 
began  shaking  the  snow  from  his  coat.  The  teacher 
looked  on  for  a  moment,  then  took  the  bull  by  the 
horns : 

"  Jim,  do  you  know,  they  say  the  fellows  are  going 
to  put  me  out." 

Jim  flicked  off  another  batch  of  snow  and  slowly 
stretched  himself  until  his  full  height  blocked  the 
doorway. 

"  They'll  have  to  walk  over  my  dead  body  first,"  he 
said,  and  the  teacher  knew  that  the  day  was  won. 

15 


16  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

This  young  teacher,  whose  name  was  John  Kinne 
Hyde  [DeForest],  had  had  other  early  difficulties  to 
meet.  As  fifth  of  eight  children  in  a  country  pastor's 
home,  he  had  had  his  share  of  life's  training  for  co- 
operation and  mutual  helpfulness  in  rubbing  elbows 
with  five  energetic  brothers,  old  and  young.  A  sym- 
pathetic parishioner  in  Westbrook,  Connecticut,  the 
home  of  John's  birth,  has  told  how  she  "dropped 
around  "  at  the  parsonage  one  day  to  see  if  she  could 
be  of  help  to  the  pastor's  busy  wife,  and  found  that 
the  sensible  mother  had  set  the  boys  to  work  at  the 
wash-tub  "  to  keep  them  out  of  mischief."  The  strug- 
gle with  poverty,  however,  was  as  real  as  the  allure- 
ments of  mischief  to  fun-loving  boys,  and  from  the 
beginning  these  sturdy  youths  learned  how  to  use  their 
brawn  and  their  good  sense  in  earning  their  way. 

John  had  the  privileges  of  the  public  schools,  both  at 
his  early  home  in  Westbrook  and  at  Greenwich,  where 
in  John's  eleventh  year  his  father  went  to  take  charge 
of  the  Congregational  Church  now  known  as  at  Cos  Cob. 
John's  father,  William  Albert  Hyde,  was  one  of  those 
"  truly  good  and  faithful  pastors  "  of  whom  New  Eng- 
land in  the  last  century  could  boast  so  many, — hard 
earnest  workers  in  the  traditional  lines,  rewarded  by 
occasional  revivals  and  the  loving  adherence  of  their 
flocks ;  genial  by  nature,  but  sometimes  letting  the 
strictness  of  their  orthodoxy  develop  an  unnatural 
severity.  When  John  in  college  once  said  to  his 
father  that  he  thought  "some  Catholics  would  be 
saved,"  the  latter  reproachfully  replied,  "  Why,  my 
boy,  how  can  you  say  so  ?  "  John  had  no  marked  re- 
spect for  traditions  as  such,  and  to  him  in  his  younger 
years  this  strict  father,  with  his  conscientious  mainte- 


THE  MISSIONAEY  IN  EMBEYO  17 

nance  of  religious  discipline  at  home  and  his  strong  ad- 
herence to  his  church  inheritance  from  the  elders,  was 
hard  to  appreciate.  Perhaps  we  must  admit  John  to 
have  been  rather  refractory  and  willful  on  his  own  ac- 
count sometimes,  and  thus  not  always  equally  well 
qualified  to  recognize  the  virtues  of  a  superior.  But 
with  his  developing  manhood  he  came  to  understand 
what  he  had  not  discerned  in  youth:  afterwards  he 
more  than  once  wonders  why  he  did  not  appreciate  his 
father  sooner ;  and  he  records  with  joyful  gratification 
how  an  old  parishioner,  fifteen  years  after  the  faithful 
pastor's  death,  said  to  his  son,  "  One  look  at  his  face 
was  better  than  hearing  most  sermons." 

John's  mother,  Martha  Sackett,  was  another  type  of 
New  England  saint — a  Dorcas :  one  who  brought  up 
her  large  family  with  a  warm  heart  and  a  kind  hand, 
and  who  extended  her  ministrations  beyond  the  limits 
of  her  own  household ;  who  outlived  her  husband 
twenty-four  years, — years  of  practical  helpfulness  lived 
among  her  children,  grandchildren,  and  even  great- 
grandchildren,— mentally  active  in  leading  her  Bible 
class  of  old  ladies,  and  preaching  the  Gospel  even  in  a 
foreign  land  through  a  patchwork  quilt  extensively 
embroidered  in  her  eighty-second  year  with  Scripture 
texts.  John  lavished  on  her  in  the  years  of  her  widow- 
hood a  double  devotion.  Faithful  letters  from  another 
hemisphere  bore  constant  witness  to  the  part  she  had 
in  his  life  through  past  aid,  present  sympathy,  and 
eternal  mother-love.  "  I  thank  Thee,"  rose  his  prayer 
from  distant  soil,  "  for  the  dear  mother  and  her  ever 
hopeful,  trustful  smile.  Grant  that  all  her  children 
may  inherit  that  smile  of  peace  and  inward  joy  and 
faith." 


18  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

John's  school  life,  interrupted  by  that  winter's  term 
of  teaching  in  Bozrahville,  Connecticut,  was  continued 
at  Phillips  Academy  in  Andover,  Massachusetts.  After 
a  year  and  a  term  there,  he  graduated  in  1862,  fifth  in 
a  class  of  forty-five  and  honoured  with  a  Greek  oration. 
Not  without  many  a  struggle,  however.  His  poor 
preparation  necessitated  the  burning  of  much  midnight 
oil,  in  (as  he  afterwards  said)  "  the  hardest  study  I 
ever  did,  so  that  I  occasionally  fainted  over  my  books." 
He  was  partly  paying  his  way  by  being  chore-boy  for 
a  kind  householder  and  caring  for  her  cow  and  her 
garden.  The  earnest  parents  did  what  they  could  to 
help,  and  "  Aunt  White,"  a  sort  of  fairy  godmother, 
sent  an  occasional  five-dollar  bill.  To  this  good  aunt 
John  opened  up  his  heart  in  confidential  letters  about 
his  spiritual  condition.  Chores  and  books  were  not  the 
only  things  that  were  filling  his  thoughts  those  days. 
The  effort  for  an  education,  the  death  of  a  younger 
sister,  the  religious  atmosphere  of  Phillips  Academy, 
were  contributing  to  the  development  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  nature  of  the  eager,  warm-hearted  boy  of 
seventeen.  He  was  worried  because  he  had  not  the 
conventional  signs  of  conversion ;  he  tried  in  vain  to 
attain  to  a  profound  conviction  of  sin  and  to  a  state  of 
steady  thinking  upon  unworldly  and  spiritual  things. 
But  a  talk  with  a  theological  friend  showed  him  that 
perhaps  a  sudden  conversion  was  not  the  only  genuine 
kind  ;  and  with  less  uncertainty  of  tone  he  wrote  Aunt 
White  before  he  graduated  that  he  felt  himself  to  be  a 
Christian. 

One  sermon  heard  in  those  school-days  went  on  record. 
To  the  fame  of  it,  already  acclaimed  by  many,  he  adds 
his  boyish  tribute  of  appreciation :   "I  last  Sunday 


THE  MISSIONARY  IN  EMBEYO  19 

heard  a  sermon  by  Professor  Park  which  he  has 
preached  over  three  hundred  times  ;  it  was  beautiful ; 
the  subject  was,  '  Peter  Denying  Christ.'  " 

The  fulfillment  of  his  ambition  to  go  to  Amherst 
College,  like  his  father,  and  then, — "  if  I  ever  get  to  be 
good  enough," — to  be  a  minister,  was  postponed  to  the 
indefinite  future  by  lack  of  means.  Intending  at  first 
to  teach  on  leaving  Phillips  Academy,  he  instead  en- 
listed for  service  in  the  Civil  War  and  was  for  nine 
months  a  member  of  Company  B,  Twenty-eighth  Con- 
necticut Volunteers.  Of  actual  fighting  he  saw  but  one 
skirmish.  At  various  points  in  Florida  and  along  the 
lower  Mississippi  he  did  duty  as  a  common  soldier  when 
not  detailed  as  clerk  in  the  quartermaster's  department 
or  as  regimental  postmaster. 

Though  outwardly  uneventful,  those  nine  months  of 
enlistment  had  for  his  inner  life  a  deep  significance. 
To  Aunt  White  again  he  confided  the  nobler  thoughts, 
the  strength  in  temptation,  the  Christian  convictions, 
that  were  growing  in  him  through  contact  with  danger 
by  land  and  sea,  through  resistance  to  prevailing  camp 
vices,  and  from  the  quiet  meditation  of  an  earnest  heart 
on  lonely  picket  duty.  The  ideal  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry renewed  its  appeal,  and  even  the  thought  of  be- 
coming a  missionary  found  its  way  onto  paper  for 
Aunt  White's  eyes.  The  organization  of  a  regiment 
church,  "  called  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,"  at  Bar- 
rancas, Florida,  in  May,  1863,  was  the  occasion  of  the 
public  profession  of  his  faith.  "  I  fear  I  had  long  ago 
made  up  my  mind  to  be  converted  after  deep  and  last- 
ing convictions ;  now  I  am  satisfied  that  the  secret, 
silent  moving  of  the  Spirit  is  full  as  good  a  way  as 
any  :  all  of  God's  ways  are  right.     .     .     .     Perhaps  it 


20  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

is  because  I  had  resolved  on  my  way  that  I  was  disap- 
pointed ;  but  I  am  more  than  satisfied — I  am  thankful 
if  God  has  thus  by  His  Spirit  and  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus  saved  me." 

On  the  expiration  of  his  term,  in  the  summer  of  1863, 
he  was  honourably  discharged  and  returned  to  his  Con- 
necticut home  somewhat  worn  with  the  malarial  fever 
that  he  had  contracted  in  Mississippi  and  that  had  at 
one  time  threatened  his  life.  His  energy  revived  in 
the  bracing  home  atmosphere,  and  with  the  pittance 
he  had  left  from  his  soldier  pay  he  entered  Yale  Col- 
lege that  September ;  but  finding  in  a  few  months  that 
no  adequate  means  of  support  was  open  to  him,  he  left 
college  and  secured  through  an  agency  a  teacher's 
position  in  a  private  boarding-school  for  boys,  in  the 
beautiful  town  of  Irvington  on  the  Hudson.  The  vital 
thing  for  which  the  months  at  Irvington  were  remem- 
bered in  after  life  was  the  friendship  they  brought 
with  the  leader  of  the  Bible  class  of  which  John  be- 
came a  member.  This  leader,  Mr.  H.  F.  Phinney,  of 
the  New  York  publishing  house  of  Ivison,  Phinney  & 
Co.,  was  a  man  whose  religion  demonstrated  itself  in  a 
very  practical  interest  in  the  young  men  of  his  Bible 
class.  Many  years  later  John  wrote  for  his  own  chil- 
dren the  story  of  Mr.  Phinney's  friendship,  that  he 
might  keep  green  the  memory  of  one  who  had  his  life- 
long gratitude.     Here  it  is  : 

"...  I  was  at  Irvington  only  a  few  months,  and 
then  was  notified  by  Professor  Northrop,  now  presi- 
dent of  Minnesota  University,  that  I  could  have  the 
DeForest  Fund  of  $333  a  year  by  coming  at  once  and 
agreeing  to  take  as  good  a  stand  in  Yale  as  I  had  taken 
at  Phillips.     I  told  my  Sunday-school  teacher  that  I 


THE  MISSIONAEY  IN  EMBEYO  21 

was  going,  and  he  kindly  invited  me  to  his  house  to 
dinner.  Now  Mr.  Phinney  was  a  very  wealthy  man. 
He  had  a  magnificent  house,  and  one  of  his  rooms  was 
shelved  all  around  and  loaded  with  books  of  every 
kind.  I  admired  immensely  his  exceptionally  fine 
establishment.  I  don't  remember  meeting  his  wife  or 
any  children,  but  we  had  a  first-class  dinner.  Then  he 
took  me  into  the  parlour  and  played  on  his  grand 
piano,  which  quite  surprised  me,  as  he  was  rather  an 
oldish  man.  He  said  he  played  to  keep  from  melan- 
choly, as  his  physician  had  advised  him  to  do  so.  In 
our  conversation,  or  rather  his,  he  asked  me  about  my 
plans  in  going  to  college,  and  I  told  him  I  expected  to 
be  a  minister,  if  I  succeeded  in  getting  through  the 
course.  He  delicately  inquired  about  the  prospects, 
and  I  told  him  about  my  fund.  Then  he  said  that 
doubtless  I'd  find  it  hard  to  pull  through  on  that 
amount,  and  in  case  I  did  have  difficulty,  if  I'd  let  him 
know  he'd  be  glad  to  assist  me.  I  thought  this  was 
just  a  good-natured  after-dinner  speech  and  placed  no 
dependence  on  it.  "When  I  started  to  leave  he  went 
into  his  library  and  took  down  eight  volumes  here  and 
there  and  gave  them  to  me.  It  was  the  first  armful 
towards  my  library.  I  don't  know  what  has  become 
of  those  books.  I  can't  find  one  here.  If  I  had  them 
now  I'd  give  them  an  honoured  place. 

"  Hardly  a  term  went  by  before  it  was  apparent  I'd 
have  to  have  more  money  somehow.  Mother  interested 
Aunt  "White  in  me  so  that  she  sent  me  a  hundred  a 
year,  but  still  that  wasn't  enough.  So  it  occurred  to 
me  towards  the  end  of  the  term  that  Mr.  Phinney 
might  possibly  lend  me  some  money.  I  wrote  him 
that  his  prophecy  had  come  true  and  I  was  hard  up ; 


22  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

if  he  would  lend  me  $50,  I'd  pay  it  back  after  gradua- 
tion, though  in  case  I  should  die  it  would  be  a  total 
loss  to  him.  To  my  surprise  he  replied  by  next  mail, 
enclosing  a  check  for  $50  and  simply  saying,  ■  When 
you  need  more,  write  again.'  That  was  splendid.  I 
knew  then  that  I  was  sure  to  go  through  Yale.  I  do 
not  remember  how  many  times  I  wrote  him,  but  when 
graduation  day  came  my  account  was  somewhere  near 
four  or  five  hundred  dollars  in  debt  to  him. 

"  Of  course  I  began  to  pay  him  off.  For  in  the  Di- 
vinity School  Professor  Northrop  secured  me  the  office 
of  librarian  in  Brothers'  Library  at  $225  a  year  for 
two  hours'  work  after  dinner  from  1  to  3  p.  m.  Then 
I  became  the  principal  of  the  first  City  Night  School  at 
$4  a  night  for  two  hours'  work.  I  also  had  private 
tutoring  at  $1  an  hour.  And  before  long  I  had 
preaching  at  $20  a  Sunday.  So  I  could  afford  to 
pay  my  debts !  But  when  Mr.  Phinney  found  my 
checks  for  $25  and  $50  coming  in,  he  took  occasion, 
on  Christmas  and  some  other  days,  I  think,  to  write 
me  a  nice  note  and  ask  me  to  accept  $50  of  that 
debt.  So  he  forgave  me  a  generous  share  of  the  whole 
amount.  And  when  I  left  the  seminary  I  had  several 
hundred  dollars  in  the  bank. 

"Yery  few  men  ever  took  such  interest  in  me  and 
had  such  faith  in  me  as  Mr.  Phinney.  He  was  a  friend 
in  a  most  substantial  way  when  I  greatly  needed  aid. 
And  because  he  helped  me  I  have  always  been  glad  to 
help  one  or  two  students  in  the  same  way  and  so  pass 
along  the  kindness  shown  me.  And  I  want  my  children 
to  remember  this  name  and  to  keep  his  photograph 
when  I  get  through  with  it.  Also,  in  case  you  are 
prospered  and  able  later  on  in  life  to  help  some  poor 


THE  MISSIOKAEY  DT  EMBEYO  23 

but  promising  student,  I  hope  you  will  do  it  in  memory, 
in  part,  of  the  good  and  kind  Mr.  Phinney  who  so  gen- 
erously aided  me  to  go  through  Yale." 

Thus  John  went  through  college  and  seminary: — 
but  not  under  the  name  of  Hyde,  as  we  have  hitherto 
known  him.  For  this  Saul  is  also  called  Paul.  The 
terms  of  the  DeForest  Scholarship  at  Yale  at  that  time 
required  its  recipient,  if  not  already  bearing  the  name 
DeForest,  to  adopt  it.  With  the  consent  of  his  parents 
the  change  was  made  by  act  of  legislature,  and  thence- 
forth he  was  known  as  John  Hyde  DeForest,  by  college 
friends  familiarly  called  "  Jack." 

As  a  scholar  he  was  above  the  average,  graduating 
with  Phi  Beta  Kappa  rank,  but  he  was  not  brilliant. 
He  evinced  no  unusual  aptitude  for  languages  ;  science 
and  mathematics  made  but  an  ordinary  appeal  to  him. 
History,  philosophy  and  literature  seem  to  have  been 
his  favourite  branches.  He  had,  however,  at  times  an 
original  way  of  looking  at  things  and  of  stating  them 
that  made  the  friends  that  knew  him  best  expect  from 
him  a  more  than  ordinary  career.  To  others,  we  con- 
fess, he  was  nothing  unusual.  For  the  casual  observer 
he  was  a  young  man  of  average  size  and  appearance, 
with  a  happy-go-lucky,  unconventional  air  and  a  gay 
necktie,  and  sometimes  too  an  independent  manner  that 
might  have  seemed  dare-devil,  but  in  reality  covered  a 
proud  and  sensitive  heart.  What  he  did  he  did  with  his 
might.  "  I  work  when  I  work,"  he  wrote  to  a  cousin, 
"  and  when  I  play  I  am  equally  radical."  He  had  his 
seasons  of  religious  depression,  but  work  and  friendship 
were  effective  tonics,  and  his  optimistic  nature  always 
rebounded  to  the  call  for  action.  His  love  of  humour, 
too,  often  saved  the  day,  and  his  capacity  for  friendship 


24  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

found  rich  return  in  the  companions  of  his  college 
years.  Of  these  he  had  many,  for  whether  rowing  on 
the  class  crew,  helping  earn  his  way  as  steward  of  a 
boarding  club,  or  entering  into  organized  society  life  in 
Alpha  Delta  Phi  and  Spade  and  Grave,  his  various  ac- 
tivities were  such  as  brought  him  into  contact  with 
other  men  ;  and  the  lifelong  friendships  begun  then  in- 
cluded men  of  widely  different  interests  and  walks  in 
life.  One  of  them  later  wrote  of  him :  "  He  was  a 
muscular  oarsman,  a  genial  companion,  an  obliging 
librarian,  a  far  from  sedate  theological  student,  who 
preached  every  Sunday  after  he  was  licensed  and  no- 
body knows  how  many  times  before." 

How  his  inner  experience  led  this  "  far  from  sedate  " 
youth  to  become  a  theological  student,  we  who  have 
seen  him  at  Phillips  Academy  and  in  the  army  can 
guess.  But  even  at  the  expense  of  going  back  a  bit, 
let  us  hear  his  own  account  of  it,  written  in  reply  to 
a  distant  daughter's  question  about  his  choice  of  a 
life-work : 

"As  to  how  I  came  to  be  a  minister  at  all,  that's  a 
rather  long  story.  It  took  shape  on  a  transport  off 
Cape  Hatteras  one  night  during  the  war,  when  I  walked 
the  deck  till  after  midnight  and  told  the  Lord  I'd  serve 
Him  as  a  minister  if  He'd  bring  me  through  the  war  in 
safety.  It  was  a  rather  cowardly  feeling  mixed  with  a 
sense  of  utter  weakness  that  led  me  to  that  decision. 
The  next  night  a  tremendous  storm  arose  and  we  barely 
pulled  through  the  peril.  I  felt  glad  then  that  I  had 
made  my  decision.  So  I  joined  the  church  after  we 
landed  in  Florida.  I'd  like  to  see  the  place  once  more. 
It  was  on  the  bluffs  overlooking  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  under  a  broad  oak  tree.     The  chaplain  made  up  a 


THE  MISSIONAEY  IN  EMBEYO  25 

little  church  out  of  such  materials  as  he  could  get  from 
the  regiment  and  that  was  the  church  I  joined.  All  I 
recall  of  my  examination  was  the  question,  '  What  is 
faith  ? '  I  replied,  '  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  not 
seen,'  etc.,  and  felt  a  little  as  I  used  to  when  I  recited 
to  my  teachers  in  book  language  glibly  without  know- 
ing a  bit  what  in  the  world  it  all  meant. 

"  In  college  I  felt  bound  by  my  vow — otherwise  I 
fancy  I'd  have  broken  off.  For  I  got  into  a  rather 
worldly  spirit  and  was  offered  one  or  two  good  places 
as  teacher.  But  I  went  right  on, — though  some  of  the 
fellows  thought  it  very  queer  I  was  going  to  be  a  min- 
ister. One  time  in  senior  year  a  pile  of  us  were  gab- 
bing together  and  I  was  asked  what  I  was  going  to  be 
and  replied,  '  A  minister.'  '  The  devil  you  are ! '  said 
one  of  my  classmates  in  surprise.  That  rather  stumped 
me.  If  it  appeared  to  others  that  I  was  so  totally  un- 
fit for  the  ministry  I  began  to  think  I  had  better  give 
it  up.  So  I  took  Joe  Greene  aside  and  asked  him  as 
my  best  friend  to  tell  me  frankly  if  I  seemed  so  unfit. 
He  comforted  me  with  very  emphatic  assertions  that 
4  the  ministry  needs  just  such  fellows  as  you,'  and  so  I 
kept  on." 

Without  losing  time  between  the  college  and  the 
theological  course,  he  graduated  from  the  Yale 
Divinity  School  and  was  ordained  in  1871.  Before 
graduating,  however,  two  events  had  made  the  future 
bright  with  promise.  He  had  accepted  a  unanimous 
call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Mount  Carmel,  Connecticut,  a  town  seven  miles  from 
New  Haven,  where  he  had  partially  supplied  a  vacant 
pulpit.  Then  too  the  star  of  love  had  dawned  for  him  ; 
and  in  his  marriage  engagement  to  Miss   Sarah  C. 


26  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

Conklin  of  New  Haven  his  cup  of  joy  was  filled  to  the 
brim.  They  were  married  and  settled  in  the  parsonage 
at  Mount  Carmel,  radiantly  happy  in  home  and  in 
work,  winning  jointly  the  loving  devotion  of  the  people 
they  served.  But  short-lived  joy  ran  its  course :  in  the 
spring  the  young  wife  and  her  new-born  babe  were 
laid  to  rest  in  the  neighbouring  churchyard. 

The  young  pastor  was  stunned  by  the  completeness 
and  suddenness  of  his  loss.  In  the  ensuing  struggle 
with  his  grief,  with  his  pulpit,  and  even  with  his  faith, 
he  was  laid  low  by  a  malarial  fever ;  at  this  dire  mo- 
ment, despair  of  his  chosen  life-work  had  well-nigh 
conquered  but  for  his  loving  people  and  the  tonic 
power  of  nature.  Weeks  of  tramping  and  trouting  in 
the  woods  of  Maine  drove  out  the  fever,  brought  balm 
to  sorrow,  and  renewed  the  iron  of  courage  in  his 
blood.  The  natural  beauty  of  Mount  Carmel,  too, 
furnished  a  preservative  supply ;  and  in  lines  which  he 
quotes  about  this  time  we  trace  the  experience  of  those 
years,  extended  into  a  lifelong  habit  of  hill-tramping : 

"  If  thou  art  worn  and  hard  beset 
With  sorrows  that  thou  wouldst  forget, 
If  thou  wouldst  read  a  lesson  that  will  keep 
Thy  heart  from  fainting  and  thy  soul  from  sleep, 
Go  to  the  woods  and  hills !    No  tears 
Dim  the  sweet  look  that  Nature  wears." 

Twenty-five  years  later,  on  receiving  in  Japan  the 
account  of  a  visit  that  two  of  his  daughters  had  made 
to  Mount  Carmel,  he  renewed  the  memories  of  his 
pastorate  in  the  following  letter : 

"  I  don't  know  when  I've  received  letters  that  gave 
me  so  much  solid  satisfaction  and  joy  as  yours  about 
your  Mount  Carmel  visit.     They  took  me  back  over 


THE  MISSIONARY  IN  EMBRYO  27 

the  parish  and  the  mountain  and  I  seemed  to  be  walk- 
ing in  the  old  paths.  Mount  Carmel  is  a  precious 
place  to  me  for  many  reasons,  chief  of  which  are, 
because  the  people  loved  me  (which  was  a  real  surprise 
to  me),  and  because  I  went  through  a  very  critical 
spiritual  crisis  there  in  which  I  nearly  lost  my  faith  ; 
and  I  actually  resigned  expecting  never  to  preach  any 
more,  though  I  didn't  say  that  to  any  one.  It  was  the 
time  when  skeptical  views  were  in  their  first  rush,  and 
I  was  nearly  carried  off  my  feet.  The  Independent 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  brilliant  young  skeptic, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  the  old  church  and  the  old  faith 
would  go  to  the  wall.  I  was  saved  by  the  love  of 
those  Mount  Carmel  folks  for  me,  especially  Mrs. 
George  Ives,  who  took  me  in  her  home  to  board.  I  was 
virtually  a  Unitarian  for  a  while,  I  suppose,  but  gradu- 
ally and  naturally  I  saw  the  glory  of  the  old  faith,  and 
when  the  revival  came,  it  lifted  me  into  the  missionary 
business. 

"  While  at  Mrs.  Ives',  being  right  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  I  often  went  up  on  the  top  and  took  to  climb- 
ing those  steep  cliffs,  d  la  Tyndall  in  the  Alps,  and  nearly 
lost  my  life  twice,  as  I  came  within  an  ace  of  slipping 
from  the  rocks  when  about  fifty  feet  up.  I  love  the 
people  and  the  mountain  and  am  glad  you  saw  them, 
and  also  the  grave  there.  It  was  my  loss  there  that 
tended  to  unsettle  me,  but  the  kindness  of  the  people, 
who  gave  me  six  months'  vacation  and  continued  my 
salary,  held  me  till  I  recovered  myself.  I  tell  you 
these  things,  since  you  are  now  in  a  position  to 
appreciate  them.  Arguments  and  doctrines,  etc.,  never 
will  save  any  one  when  in  doubt  and  sorrow  and 
despair — nothing  but  love  will." 


28  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

And  love  did.  In  a  few  years  he  could  look  back 
upon  his  experience  at  this  time  and  read  what  it  had 
wrought  for  him.  "  God  meant  something  for  me  five 
years  ago ;  I  know  that  my  whole  heart-life  and  my 
whole  life-work  were  changed  by  my  loss  ;  and  God  has 
led  me  until  I'm  far  happier  than  ever  before,  because 
now  I  have  laid  aside  the  petty  ideas  and  the  half- 
skeptical  heart  I  used  to  have,  and  am  trying  to  love 
and  help  my  brothers  wherever  I  find  them." 

He  went  back  to  two  years  more  of  faithful  ministry 
upon  which  the  seal  of  approval  was  set  in  a  steadily 
growing  religious  interest  throughout  the  parish,  cul- 
minating in  a  sincere  and  fruit-bearing  revival  in  the 
winter  of  1873-1874.  Scenes  abounded  that  Mount 
Carmel  had  not  known  for  twenty-five  years.  Crowded 
prayer-meetings,  frequent  extra  preachings  followed 
by  inquiry  meetings,  personal  work  successful  in  unex- 
pected quarters,  the  appointment  of  women  from  among 
the  church-members  to  work  in  the  outlying  districts,  a 
large  Bible  History  class  of  new  Christians  who  studied 
and  recited  on  their  subjects,  the  formation  of  a 
Woman's  Missionary  Auxiliary, — these  were  some  of 
the  activities  called  into  being  by  the  influx  of  new 
spiritual  life. 

There  was,  however,  in  this  revival  more  fruit  than 
the  upbuilding  of  the  church.  To  the  pastor  it  was  the 
sign  for  which  he  had  been  waiting,  the  answer  to  his 
prayer  for  guidance  about  becoming  a  foreign  mission- 
ary. The  thought  that  he  had  breathed  to  Aunt  White 
from  the  army  had  awaked  from  its  lethargy.  "I 
have  been  wondering,"  he  wrote  his  parents  during  the 
revival,  "  whether  it  is  not  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege 
for  me  to  go  as  a  missionary.     .     .     .     I  see  no  reason 


THE  MISSIONARY  IN  EMBRYO  29 

in  my  circumstances  for  staying  in  our  country  .  .  . 
but  my  fitness  is  the  main  point.  I  hold  it  true  that 
no  man  should  go  as  a  missionary  unless  he  is  a  man  of 
large  ability  and  undoubted  consecration.  Could  I 
satisfy  myself  on  these  points,  I  should  be  all  ready." 
The  attitude  of  his  parents  towards  missions  may  be 
seen  from  what  he  himself  told  the  audience  in  his 
farewell  address  at  the  American  Board  meeting  before 
starting  for  his  field :  "  My  father  is  the  happy  father 
of  many  children.  The  first  few  that  came  along  he 
named  after  our  uncles  and  aunts,  and  when  he  had 
pretty  much  exhausted  that  source,  being  a  good  man, 
he  turned  to  the  Bible  for  comfort.  He  called  me 
John.  Still  the  children  came  ;  and  just  about  then 
came  the  news  that  two  of  his  classmates  who  had 
gone  out  as  missionaries  had  been  murdered ;  so  he 
perpetuated  the  memory  of  that  in  our  family  by  call- 
ing his  youngest  boy  Lyman  Munson.  Thus  I  learned 
how  the  early  missionaries  were  treated.  And  in  those 
days  what  was  the  great  petition  that  went  up  from 
mission-loving  hearts  ?  I  know  how  my  father  prayed, 
in  his  pulpit  and  at  the  family  altar :  the  petition  was 
that  Almighty  God  would  open  the  nations  of  the 
earth  to  missionaries."  Therefore  these  parents  an- 
swered their  son's  letter  without  opposition  to  his  en- 
tering upon  missionary  work.  They  merely  raised  such 
questions  as  a  proper  prudence  dictated ;  to  which  he 
replied :  "  As  to  my  health,  I  do  not  suppose  that  one 
clergyman  in  five  is  my  equal  in  strength  and  likeli- 
hood of  lasting  forever.  .  .  .  You  will  have  to 
cast  about  for  some  better  excuse  for  me.  However, 
before  the  matter  approaches  a  crisis,  I  shall  come  home 
and  do  my  pleading."     "  More  and  more  it  seems  both 


30  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  go  where  so  few  are  willing 
or  able  to  go.  Because  I  believe  in  the  power  of  the 
Gospel,  I  want  it  to  be  carried  outside  of  our  Gospel- 
ridden  country ;  a  hundred  ministers  would  be  glad  of 
my  place  here  and  not  one  of  them  would  be  able  or 
willing  to  go  abroad." 

Thus  the  decision  was  made,  and  made  with  the 
blessing  of  his  godly  parents  and  the  regret,  but  also 
the  affectionate  Godspeed,  of  his  people  at  Mount 
Carmel.  When  he  told  his  purpose  to  his  old  friend 
and  teacher,  Professor  Fisher  of  Yale,  the  historian  had 
answered,  "  Go  to  a  people  that  has  a  history."  In 
later  years,  as  the  treasures  of  Japan's  history  and  tra- 
ditions began  to  open  up  to  him  unexpected  wealth  in 
every  phase  of  Japanese  life,  and  unlooked-for  oppor- 
tunities of  Christian  service,  he  recalled  those  words 
with  a  deepening  appreciation  of  the  insight  that 
prompted  them.  India,  his  first  choice  of  a  field,  was 
recognized  as  impracticable  for  him,  since  his  army  ex- 
perience had  demonstrated  his  unfitness  for  residence 
in  the  tropics.  Hence  the  American  Board  appointed 
him  to  its  newer  mission  in  Japan. 

The  joy  of  this  appointment  was  doubled  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  for  himself  alone.  He  had  found 
in  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Starr,  of  Guilford,  Conn.,  the 
worthy  partner  of  his  life  purpose.  Born  and  brought 
up  in  a  farming  town  and  being  an  ambitious  student, 
she  combined  with  a  strong  physical  constitution  prac- 
tical experience  and  intellectual  gifts  further  developed 
by  several  years  of  school-teaching  in  Vermont,  Min- 
nesota, and  Connecticut.  Then,  too,  a  saintly  mother 
had  trained  the  daughter  from  girlhood  in  the  vitality 
of  spiritual  things,  and  had  taught  her  to  believe  in  the 


THE  MISSIONAKY  IN  EMBEYO  31 

missionary  obligation  resting  upon  the  church  and  the 
individual.  The  father,  although  accepting  these  doc- 
trines in  theory,  could  not  brook  them  in  practice  when 
they  threatened  to  remove  to  a  distant  country  the 
daughter  who  was  his  pride  ;  and  it  was  with  his  bitter 
opposition  that  she  persisted  in  the  course  to  which  her 
conviction  of  the  right  impelled  her.  The  mother, 
with  a  rare  combination  of  strength  and  sweetness, 
maintained  the  conjugal  peace  while  supporting  her 
daughter's  resolution  ;  and  so  sincerely  did  she  live  out 
her  own  teaching  that  she  could  say  in  the  midst  of  her 
suffering,  "  I  rejoice  to  make  the  sacrifice  of  letting  my 
only  daughter  go  as  a  foreign  missionary."  To  this 
daughter  the  call  of  love  came  with  a  double  joy,  be- 
cause in  it  the  twofold  ideal  of  home-making  and  of 
missionary  service  beckoned  to  fulfillment. 

They  were  married  September  23,  1874,  were  bidden 
farewell  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Board 
at  Kutland,  Vt.,  and  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  the 
Colorado,  a  side-wheel  steamer  that  without  stopping 
at  Hawaii  took  twenty-seven  days  in  crossing  to  Yoko- 
hama. With  them,  also  for  mission  work  in  Japan, 
were  Dr.  and  Mrs.  A.  H.  Adams  and  Eev.  Joseph 
Hardy  Neesima.  The  last  months  in  America,  with 
their  busy  planning,  packing,  and  purchasing  of  outfit 
supplies,  were  irksome  to  the  eager  young  spirit  that 
pressed  forward  to  his  chosen  work.  "  I  shall  be  glad," 
he  wrote  to  the  American  Board  secretary,  Dr.  N.  G-. 
Clark,  "  when  the  business  part  of  my  life-work  is 
ended,  and  the  solid  work  of  the  Master  is  entered  upon. 
I  am  very  tired  of  this  heartless  work  of  packing :  it 
is  so  foreign  to  my  enthusiastic  work  of  last  winter 
that  I  seem  to  have  lost  almost  all  of  my  religion.    I 


32  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

endure  it,  however,  by  knowing  that  it  is  a  duty  that 
can't  be  avoided,  and  is  therefore  one  of  the  things 
that  should  be  done  to  the  glory  of  God.  I  am  sure 
God  always  meant  me  for  some  distant  work." 

In  the  happy  faith  of  such  a  call,  he  took  his  depar- 
ture to  that  "  distant  work."  "  As  the  great  steamship 
Colorado  moved  slowly  from  her  pier,"  he  wrote  back, 
"  cannon  after  cannon  spoke  out  a  loud  farewell,  until 
the  mountain-lined  harbour  was  filled  with  thundering 
echoes ;  less  noisily,  but  from  the  heart,  our  friends 
were  waving  us  farewells  from  the  bow  of  the  steam- 
ship Japan.  Naturally  we  felt  some  bunches  in  our 
throat  which  were  hard  to  swallow :  a  proper  feeling 
indeed,  but  by  no  means  to  be  interpreted  as  for  a  mo- 
ment regretting  our  choice  for  life ;  we  counted  the 
cost  long  before  leaving,  and  mean  to  take  hopefully 
all  the  disagreeable  side-dishes  of  the  missionary  call- 
ing." 


II 


The  Early  Japanese  Environment 
and  His  Adaptation  to  It 


"  Climes  remote  and  strange, 
Where  altered  life,  fast- following  change, 
Hot  action,  never-ceasing  toil, 
Shall  stir,  turn,  dig  the  spirit's  soil ; 
Fresh  roots  shall  plant,  fresh  seed  shall  sow, 
Till  a  new  garden  there  shall  grow." 

—  Charlotte  Bronte,  «  The  Missionary." 


II 

THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT  AND 
HIS  ADAPTATION  TO  IT 

"  'W  "X"  TE  landed  Thanksgiving  Day.  Oh,  how 
\/\/  glad  we  were  to  see  the  land  and  to  feel 
▼  ▼  that  our  voyage  was  over  !  We  just  gave 
extra  thanks,  and  determined  that  henceforth  Thanks- 
giving should  mean  more  to  us  than  ever  before." 

Thus  runs  the  first  home  letter  from  Japanese  soil ; 
and  then  it  proceeds  to  give  incidental  mention  to  some 
of  the  most  honoured  names  in  the  history  of  Christi- 
anity in  Japan.  But  not  in  the  setting  that  mission 
history  gives  them — these  heroes  of  dictionary -making, 
Bible-translating,  missionary  statesmanship,  philan- 
thropy, and  evangelization !  Let  us  rejoice  that  they 
sometimes  relaxed  from  their  labours  by  eating  turkey 
and  going  sightseeing. 

"  Mr.  Greene  [Rev.  D.  C.  Greene,  first  missionary  of 
the  American  Board  in  Japan]  came  out  to  meet  us  and 
took  us  to  his  own  home  ;  it  was  delightful  to  meet  his 
wife  and  four  little  ones,  and  to  feel  at  once  as  if  we  had 
got  into  a  real  American  home.  Here  are  Methodist, 
Dutch  Reformed,  Baptist,  Congregational,  and  Presby- 
terian missionaries ;  and  all  of  them  have  given  us 
most  hearty  hand-shakes  and  good  grub.  For  instance, 
last  night  we  were  invited  to  Dr.  Hepburn's  to  tea,  or 
rather  to  Thanksgiving  Dinner,  which  they  had  post- 
poned. We  had  a  tremendous  turkey,  worth  out  here 
fifteen  dollars.     It  was  a  present  to  the  doctor  and  the 

35 


3(3  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

first  one  he  has  had  in  this  country,  though  he  has  been 
here  fifteen  years.  I  told  him  if  I  waited  fifteen  years 
without  a  turkey  I  should  want  one  worth  fifteen  dollars. 
.  .  .  Oh,  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  of  my  visit  to  Yedo 
[Tokyo],  the  great  city  of  this  empire.  .  .  .  We 
had  two  of  the  best  guides  in  the  empire :  Rev.  Mr. 
Ballagh,  Dutch  Reformed,  took  us  on  Monday,  and 
Dr.  Yeeder,  one  of  the  teachers  in  the  '  Great  College,' 
on  Tuesday.  ...  I  can  only  tell  you  of  one  inci- 
dent. We  went  to  a  tremendous  temple  [Asakusa] ; 
its  gateway  was  as  large  as  the  Mount  Carm?I  Church, 
and  we  went  between  two  hideous  images,  high  and 
large,  the  guardians  of  the  temple.  The  people  that 
are  sore-footed  stop  and  worship  these  giant  creatures 
by  hanging  their  shoes  before  them  and  leaving  them 
there  as  an  offering.  You  often  hear  people  say,  '  I'd 
give  all  my  old  shoes  if  so-and-so  could  happen.'  Well, 
the  heathen  really  do  it.  I  saw  I  should  think  forty 
pairs  hung  up  for  the  old  guardian  gods  to  smell  of. 
We  kept  ours  on. 

"  Then  we  entered  a  courtyard,  and  beyond  was  a 
real  temple  where  the  people  did  their  best  worship. 
.  .  .  You  remember  my  telling  how  they  wrote  their 
prayers  on  paper,  then  chewed  them  and  made  spit- 
balls  and  threw  them  at  the  objects  they  worship. 
Well,  there  were  thousands  of  spit-ball  prayers  all 
around  and  I  had  a  good  mind  to  try  one  myself,  but 
was  a  little  afraid  to  do  it ;  I  reckon  mine  would  have 
stuck.  .  .  .  The  god  was  a  queer  thing  indeed  :  a 
wooden  image  about  as  large  as  Henry,  sitting  in  a 
chair.  .  .  .  Whoever  has  any  disease  or  pain  comes 
and  rubs  the  god  where  the  pain  is,  and  so  many  thou- 
sands have  rubbed  the  old  fellow  that  his  eyes  and  nose 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     37 

and  belly  are  rubbed  pretty  nearly  out  of  existence.  I'm 
sure  the  god  will  have  to  go  to  some  bigger  god  before 
long  to  get  patched  up  :  indeed  there  is  one  somewhere 
that  has  had  his  shin  all  rubbed  off  and  has  had  a  new 
one  put  in.  I  saw  a  poor  diseased  old  woman,  all  bent 
over  and  full  of  pain,  come  up  ;  with  folded  hands  she 
prayed,  then  rubbed  the  god  pretty  much  all  over ; 
poor  thing,  I  wished  she  knew  of  One  to  whom  all 
heavy-laden  creatures  might  go." 

With  this  introduction  to  Japan  in  Yokohama  and 
Tokyo,  "  kept  by  friends  whom  we  had  never  seen,  but 
who  greeted  us  for  our  common  Master's  sake,"  the 
newcomers  took  ship  for  Kobe,  where  they  saluted  the 
brethren ;  then,  taking  all  the  railroad  there  was  to 
take,  they  went  to  their  appointed  place  in  Osaka. 
Osaka  was  the  second  station  of  the  American  Board 
in  Japan,  and  had  been  opened  two  years  before  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  H.  Gulick.  These  pioneers  were  soon 
joined  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  M.  L.  Gordon,  in  whose  home  the 
Osaka  Church,  the  second  Congregational  Church  in 
Japan,  had  been  organized  with  seven  members  in  the 
spring  of  1874. 

The  first  DeForest  home  in  Japan  was  a  small  Jap- 
anese house  with  some  foreign  features,  situated  in 
Yoriki-machi,  an  annex  to  the  foreign  concession  in 
Osaka.  To  have  started  at  housekeeping  directly  on 
arrival  would  have  been  difficult,  though  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  young  couple  would  not  have  hesitated  to  make 
the  attempt.  As,  however,  their  household  goods, 
shipped  from  Boston  by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  were  de- 
layed some  months  by  an  accident  to  the  ship,  their 
first  winter  was  happily  spent  in  the  home  of  their 
colleagues,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon.     "  We  are  really  for- 


38  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

tunate  in  not  having  our  goods,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest, 
"  for  Dr.  Gordon  is  the  best  scholar  of  Japanese  in  this 
part  of  Japan,  and  he  willingly  tells  me  all  he  can  and 
is  an  excellent  help  towards  getting  a  start  at  this  most 
twisted  language." 

Of  their  own  domestic  arrangements,  when  com- 
pleted, little  need  be  said.  There  were  in  those  early 
years  the  usual  explanations  to  be  made  to  the  home 
friends  as  to  why  they  employed  servants.  "  With 
help  so  cheap  we  can't  afford  to  do  any  other  way.  A 
missionary's  time  is  valuable :  he  must  learn  the  lan- 
guage, and  then  use  his  knowledge  to  spread  the 
Gospel,  not  to  wash  and  make  gardens.  Yet  we  deny 
ourselves  many,  many  things ;  and  if  necessary,  we  all 
would  deny  ourselves  every  servant,  and  pretty  much 
everything  else — a  missionary  means  business."  There 
were  the  usual  questions  from  home  people  as  to  what 
they  ate  and  wore  and  how  they  lived,  eliciting  dis- 
closures that  tended  to  prove  the  fundamental  simi- 
larity of  human  nature  everywhere.  "  You  ask  about 
my  clothes.  Yes,  I  wear  some  still.  I've  got  a  brand 
new  stack  of  them,  made  by  John  Chinaman  J  for  thir- 
teen dollars  ;  and  although  the  Chinaman  made  a  mis- 
take in  guessing  how  big  I  am  and  got  the  vest  all  put 
into  the  rear  of  the  trousers,  yet  Lizzie  thinks  I  look 
very  much  as  I  used  to  when  I  went  to  Guilford  on 
business."  "  Lizzie  got  a  cambric  dress  by  mail,  all 
made  up ;  mail  was  twelve  cents  only  [from  America]. 
She  put  it  right  on  and  was  as  tickled  as  any  carnally- 
minded,  stay-at-home  Christian  is  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances." 

The  daily  menu  was  a  good  one,  in  spite  of  a  few 

1  The  Chinese  tailor  is  still  frequently  found  in  Japanese  ports. 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     39 

local  problems.  The  plentiful,  juicy,  little  Japanese 
orange  acted  as  part  substitute  for  drinking  water  in 
those  days  before  Osaka  had  its  city  waterworks ; 
otherwise  filtered  rain  water  was  used  for  drinking,  as 
the  well  water  that  rose  and  fell  with  the  daily  tides, 
and  took  some  surface  drainage  in  addition,  was  unde- 
sirable. Condensed  milk  (it  was  before  the  days  of  the 
evaporated  varieties)  and  canned  butter  were  of  familiar 
appearance  on  every  foreign  table.  "  We  have  good 
substantial  food  and  plenty  of  it,"  runs  a  letter.  "  I 
like  rice  very  much.  .  .  .  We  have  had  no  butter 
for  over  three  months,  and  I  don't  miss  it  so  long  as 
we  have  a  cow."  Perhaps  the  gradual  passing  of  the 
olden  cow  will  justify  quoting  at  length  on  this  sub- 
ject:  "I  went  to  Kobe  and  bought  a  cow  and  a  calf  for 
twenty-four  dollars.  JSTow  the  cows  of  this  country 
are  peculiar  every  way :  the  natives  have  never  used 
milk,  but  use  cows  to  plough  and  carry  burdens.  The 
result  is  that  these  '  critters '  are  very  sparing  of  their 
milk;  most  of  them  won't  give  three  pints  a  day. 
Then  they  are  generous  kickers ;  I've  seen  my  cow 
keep  her  hind  leg  going  almost  as  if  she  were  grinding 
a  hand-organ,  and  my  cow  is  remarkably  gentle.  To 
ensure  good  behaviour  all  cows  have  a  ring  through 
their  noses,  and  if  you  jerk  it  well  they  give  up  the 
contest.  But  in  this  country  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
[pasture]  grass,  and  so  the  cows  are  not  much  to  blame 
for  their  low  characters.  They  eat  leaves  from  brush 
and  such  rank  stuff  as  will  grow  on  the  mountains ; 
besides  that,  we  feed  a  little  grain.  Of  course  we  can't 
make  butter  with  such  a  cow,  but  we  use  the  milk  to 
eat  with  rice,  etc." 

"  I  laugh  day  and  night  to  see  and  hear  these  comical 


40  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

Japs,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest  after  more  than  a  year's 
residence  :  the  humorous  aspect  of  his  environment  did 
not  wear  off  with  the  novelty.  Indeed,  in  those  days 
there  must  have  been  much  more  to  strike  the  amused 
and  wondering  eye  of  the  foreigner  than  there  is  now  : 
— the  women  with  their  shaven  eyebrows  and  black- 
ened teeth  and  invariably  the  Japanese  style  of  hair- 
dressing  ;  the  men  with  the  ancient  Japanese  queue, 
consisting  of  a  narrow  wad  three  or  four  inches  long 
projecting  over  the  shaven  strip  on  the  top  of  the 
head ;  the  samurai  stalking  the  streets  with  their  two 
swords  of  different  lengths  suggestively  conspicuous  at 
their  sides.  And  to  what  newcomer  even  now  does 
not  the  jinrikisha  appeal  with  an  admixture  of  feelings 
in  which  humour  is  one  ingredient  ?  The  jinrikisha  of 
those  days  offered  clumsy  contrasts  to  the  modern 
vehicle  with  its  light  rubber-tired  wheels  and  compact 
equipment  for  rain  or  sunshine ;  and  the  puller  was 
not  the  well-clothed  man  that  the  police  of  to-day  in- 
sist upon.  Still  the  picture  given  is  unmistakably 
Japanese : 

"  One  can  hardly  move  a  block  in  any  of  the  cities 
without  being  addressed  in  this  double-twisted,  back- 
handed, excruciatingly  polite  and  non-understandable 
language  by  some  of  the  half-dressed  natives  who 
would  be  most  happy  to  become  one's  horse  for  a  slight 
consideration  ;  and  the  only  word  a  newcomer  is  sure 
of  is  the  everlasting  '  jinrikisha  ' !  It  is  a  large  baby- 
cart,  capable  of  carrying  one  or  two  full-grown  persons 
or  six  babies  as  they  average.  .  .  .  Yery  undigni- 
fied accidents  sometimes  happen  to  those  who  ride. 
The  Japanese  are  a  marvellously  polite  people ;  when 
they  bow,  their  heads  go  down  to  the  level  of  their 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIKONMENT      41 

knees ;  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  three  such 
sweeping  bows  for  a  single  salutation.  One  such  bow 
divided  up  would  last  some  Americans  a  year.  Now 
bowing  on  one's  feet  is  a  comparatively  safe  thing ; 
but  bad  luck  to  him  who  rides  regardless  of  the  equilib- 
rium of  things  !  The  other  day  while  walking  out,  I 
saw  a  Japanese  friend  riding  towards  me.  He  braced 
himself  to  do  me  the  usual  honour.  His  little  coolie 
of  course  did  not  suspect  that  an  additional  weight 
would  be  suddenly  thrown  on  the  shafts  ;  and  when 
the  rider  smilingly  bent  forward  to  the  showing  of  his 
back  hair,  down  went  the  shafts,  my  friend  went  head- 
long from  the  jinrikisha,  taking  his  astonished  horse 
right  between  the  shoulders,  and  both  together  meas- 
ured full  length  in  the  road.  ...  I  did  try  to  be  a 
good  missionary  and  tell  him  how  sorry  I  was, — while 
I  was  aching  to  have  him  hurry  away  round  the  corner 
out  of  sight ;  and  then  I  laughed  the  longest  laugh  on 
record — it  was  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long." 

Besides  long  laughter  there  were  long,  deep  breaths 
of  admiration  for  the  beauty  of  hills  and  valleys  and 
green  fields, — the  natural  contour  of  a  land  where  Na- 
ture has  been  lavish  with  some  of  her  most  attractive 
forms.  "  Never  think  of  us  as  '  poor  missionaries  ' — 
the  land  is  beautiful,  a  lovely  land,"  was  his  surprised 
confession  on  arriving.  Delight  in  the  deep,  soulful 
tone  of  the  temple  bells,  in  the  quaintness  of  the 
dwarfed  trees  and  the  brilliance  of  the  triple-tailed 
goldfish  in  the  pond  in  his  ready-made  garden,  in  the 
luxuriance  of  the  winter-blooming  japonicas  and  the 
springtide  peach  and  cherry  blossoms  far  and  wide, — 
this  delight  breathes  through  the  letters  of  those  early 
years. 


42  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

There  were  also  long,  long  sighs  of  sympathy  and 
pity  :  for  human  misfortunes  are  many  in  a  city  of  half 
a  million,  as  Osaka  was  then.  On  a  Sunday  morning 
in  the  missionary's  first  winter  there,  one  of  those  great 
fires,  still  only  too  well  known  in  Japanese  cities,  broke 
out  near  the  centre  of  Osaka  and  raged  for  some 
twenty-four  hours,  leaving  over  a  thousand  ruined 
homes,  shops,  and  temples  in  its  track.  Dr.  Gordon 
rose  to  the  emergency.  "  He  started  out  early  Monday 
morning,"  writes  his  admiring  young  comrade,  "  and 
hired  two  hotels  to  cook  for  him.  Then  he  bought 
rice,  etc.,  and  bamboo  plates  and  chop-sticks,  and  with 
the  help  of  some  native  Christians  he  distributed  nine 
hundred  warm  meals  on  that  day ;  they  carried  loaded 
baskets  through  the  burned  district,  and  wherever  they 
saw  the  poor  women  and  children  sitting  on  the  ground 
where  their  houses  had  been,  they  gave  them  a  bamboo 
plate  of  rice  and  a  pair  of  chop-sticks  ;  they  were  very 
thankful  indeed.  On  Tuesday  I  joined  them  in  the 
distribution  ;  I  gave  away  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
hot  meals  that  morning.  I  learned  to  say,  '  Did 
your  house  burn  up  ?  Then  I  will  give  you  this.'  In 
two  days  after  that  new  houses  were  going  up  all  over 
the  burned  place,  and  now  you  wouldn't  know  the 
spot.  But  the  most  marvellous  part  of  this  story  is 
the  cost  of  the  meals  :  everything,  all  told,  made  each 
meal  a  trifle  over  two  cents !  Our  missionaries  sub- 
scribed one  hundred  dollars  out  of  their  own  salaries  to 
help  these  poor  people.  Dr.  Gordon  also  telegraphed 
to  Kobe  for  help  and  immediately  through  the  mission- 
aries there  some  three  hundred  dollars  were  subscribed. 
This  was  offered  to  the  government  to  aid  the  needy, 
but  with  a  strange  pride  it  was  rejected."     This  rejec- 


THE  EARLY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT  43 

tion  was  before  the  development  of  the  fraternal  con- 
sciousness by  virtue  of  which  the  Japan  of  to-day  can 
alike  receive  from  other  nations  for  her  own  relief  and 
contribute  to  other  nations  for  theirs  in  time  of  flood, 
famine,  or  earthquake. 

From  time  to  time  there  were  outbreaks  of  cholera 
with  long  death-lists  in  their  train.  Of  one  epidemic 
in  the  autumn  of  1877  Mr.  DeForest  wrote  :  "  They 
die  on  the  cars,  they  die  in  the  tea-houses  and  on  the 
road.  Yesterday  on  the  way  to  church  we  passed  a 
dead  jinrikisha-man  sitting  in  his  wagon  as  if  asleep. 
The  police  saw  to  it  immediately."  Among  such  scenes 
the  writer  voices  his  admiration  for  timely  action  on 
the  part  of  the  authorities.  "  The  government  is  doing 
its  best  to  check  the  disease,  disinfecting  drains,  dis- 
tributing proper  medicine  and  preventives,  quarantining 
every  house  where  it  is,  arresting  spurious  druggists 
and  doctors,  furnishing  free  medical  aid  to  the  poor, 
etc.  Indeed  there  probably  is  not  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  a  government  like  this  for  doing  such  a  thing. 
We  have  no  fears,  but  are  cautious,  not  letting  our 
servants  go  to  the  [public]  bath,  etc." 

Another  evidence  of  the  confidence  that  the  Ameri- 
cans felt  in  the  government  is  given  in  a  reference  to 
the  Satsuma  Kebellion  of  1877.  For  the  benefit  of 
home  friends  they  explained  that  the  struggle,  though 
fierce,  was  confined  to  the  southern  island  of  Kyushu ; 
but  they  added,  "  Should  the  trouble  spread,  we  for- 
eigners are  as  safe  as  if  in  New  York." 

Two  events  had  strengthened  this  confidence.  One 
was  indeed  one  of  the  minor  causes  of  the  rebellion  it- 
self— the  edict  depriving  the  samurai  of  the  right 
hitherto  enjoyed  of  wearing  swords.     This  edict,  that 


44  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

helped  rouse  to  a  last  formal  resistance  the  spirit  of 
such  samurai  as  had  been  embittered  and  alienated  by 
the  policies  of  the  government  that  they  had  helped  to 
reinstate,  was  to  resident  foreigners  a  distinct  reassur- 
ance of  their  personal  safety,  and  seemed  also  from  the 
civic  point  of  view  "  a  great  step  in  favour  of  peace 
and  good-will."  The  other  event  was  the  notification 
of  1876  regarding  Sunday,  of  which  Mr.  DeForest 
gives  the  following  translation  : 

"Notification  27 
"  It  is  hereby  notified  that  up  to  the  present  time 
the  first  and  the  sixth  days  have  been  observed  in 
the  government  offices  as  the  clays  of  rest.  But 
from  the  first  of  April  next  all  government  offices 
will  be  closed  on  Sunday,  and  will  be  open  only 
until  noon  on  Saturday. 

"  Sanjo  Saneyoshi,  Prime  Minister. 
"  March  12,  1876." 

In  giving  an  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  new 
step  upon  the  church  of  those  days,  Mr.  DeForest  takes 
occasion  to  summarize  from  a  year  and  a  half's  ac- 
quaintance with  Japan  his  view  of  her  policy  : 

"  Japan  is  a  progressive  nation.  Let  any  one  spend 
an  hour  on  the  history  of  this  people,  reading  the  dark 
times  of  Iej^asu  three  hundred  years  ago,  or  let  him  talk 
with  an  intelligent  samurai  of  advanced  years  concern- 
ing the  heartless  and  barbarous  things  he  himself  has 
shared  in  or  known  of  ;  and  then  see  how  united,  quiet, 
safe  the  country  now  is :  the  sword  laid  aside,  manu- 
factures encouraged,  schools  multiplied,  education  ex- 
alted and  persecution  abandoned  ;  and  he  will  see  the 
word  '  progressive  '  belongs  to  Japan  as  it  does  to  no 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     45 

other  nation  on  earth.  And  this  desire  to  be  progress- 
ive, which  led  her  to  introduce  steamboats,  railroads, 
telegraphs,  etc.,  has  also  led  to  the  adoption  of  Sunday, 
not  at  all  because  it  is  the  Kesurrection  Day,  but  be- 
cause she  desires  to  accept  as  rapidly  as  is  practicable 
the  customs  and  also  the  laws,  as  well  as  the  wonderful 
inventions,  of  the  most  civilized  nations.  ...  It 
will  be  noticed  that  the  edict  refers  not  to  the  people  of 
Japan,  but  to  the  government.  The  people  are  not  asked 
to  observe  Sunday,  but  are  only  informed  that  on  that 
day  they  need  bring  no  business  to  the  courts,  nor  to 
any  public  office  in  the  empire.  .  .  .  But  one  direct 
advantage  of  this  edict  is  that  it  gives  a  regular  oppor- 
tunity to  those  who  desire  to  hear  about  Christianity. 
Last  winter  a  young  official  and  his  wife  at  Osaka  were 
frequently  seen  at  evening  meetings,  and  on  being  ap- 
proached said  that  they  had  heard  with  admiration  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  and  desired  not  only  further  instruc- 
tion, but  permission  to  enter  the  company  of  believers. 
He  was  accordingly  asked  to  attend  church,  at  which 
his  countenance  fell :  '  he  was  an  official  and  could  not 
leave  his  post ;  but  he  wTould  come  to  all  evening  meet- 
ings, and  on  the  more  frequent  government  rest-days 
wrould  study  by  himself  the  teachings  of  Jesus.'  His 
sincerity  won  the  church -members,  and  his  frequent 
regret  that  he  could  not  receive  baptism  created  a 
strong  movement  in  the  church  in  favour  of  abolish- 
ing the  Sunday  rule  and  receiving  him.  It  was  claimed 
on  one  side  that  to  observe  Sunday  would  cost  him 
his  position  and  his  means  of  support,  and  God  did 
not  require  such  sacrifices.  It  was  claimed  on  the 
other  hand  that  a  church-membership  that  did  not  ob- 
serve  Sunday  would  imperil  the  cause  of  Christ.     It 


46  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

was  then  said  that  to  be  obliged  to  work  on  Sunday 
while  the  heart  wished  to  observe  the  Lord's  Day  was 
better  than  to  go  to  church  with  a  careless  heart ;  to 
which  it  was  replied  that  that  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  question.  The  official  then  made  a  truly  beautiful 
request  that  his  wife  might  be  received,  while  he  would 
pray  God  to  open  the  door  for  himself.  Being  an  offi- 
cial, he  received  news  before  we  did ;  and  one  Friday 
evening  in  March,  coming  into  the  prayer-meeting,  he 
astonished  us  all  with  the  announcement  that  his  prayer 
was  answered  and  he  could  henceforth  keep  the  Sab- 
bath. That  night  the  prayer-meeting  was  not  as  usual : 
it  was  a  kind  of  praise  meeting,  thanking  God  that  this 
great  step  had  been  taken  by  the  government." 

To  these  glimpses  of  the  physical  and  civic  environ- 
ment should  be  added  the  newcomer's  impressions  of 
the  moral  and  religious  aspects  of  his  surroundings.  In 
the  absence  of  studied  statements,  chance  phrases  and 
spontaneous  expressions  of  the  first  five  years  abound  to 
show  that  he  had  little  respect  for  either  the  morals  or 
the  religions  that  he  saw  about  him ;  that  in  this  new 
and  unfamiliar  world  it  was  the  vices  that  had  most 
forcefully  struck  his  attention  ;  and  that  the  distorted 
and  degenerate  forms  of  religious  expression  in  Japa- 
nese life  had  taken  strong  hold  upon  his  thought.  A 
few  quotations  will  reveal  in  a  variety  of  contexts,  and 
sometimes  in  a  merely  accidental  way,  what  impres- 
sions he  was  getting : 

"  This  life  is  little  by  the  side  of  the  life  to  come, 
and  that  is  one  great  reason  why  I  gave  up  home  and 
society  :  I  hoped  my  going  away  would  be  a  continual 
reminder  to  my  friends  that  the  life  hereafter  is  a  thou- 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     47 

sandfold  more  worth  striving  for  than  this  life.  I  do 
not  want  to  preach  to  them,  but  I  do  want  them  to 
know  that  being  out  here  in  the  midst  of  vice  and 
idolatry,  where  there  is  no  Sabbath  and  where  true 
love  and  friendship  are  hard  to  find,  is  good,  because  I 
think  it  is  just  what  God  wants  me  to  do." 

"  I  have  just  taught  my  class  in  Sunday  school,  and 
in  teaching  these  heathen  fellows  some  very  amusing 
things  often  happen.  Dr.  Gordon,  for  example,  was 
telling  his  scholars  once  how  the  devil  tempted  Christ, 
and  one  of  them  replied,  '  The  devil  must  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly impolite  to  tempt  so  good  a  man  as  Jesus.'  " 

"  There  is  nothing  the  Japanese  need  so  much  as 
grit.  One  of  the  great  evils  we  have  to  contend  with 
in  Osaka  is  this  abominable  weakness  of  doing  evil  be- 
cause others  do  it,  or,  rather,  because  it  is  the  standing, 
recognized  custom  of  the  land." 

"  The  other  day  I  received  your  first  chapter  of  Lam- 
entations with  reference  to  my  thinness  and  ghastly 
countenance.  As  a  piece  of  composition,  your  letter 
was  certainly  excellent ;  if  Jeremiah  had  only  seen  it 
before  he  wrote  Lamentations,  there  is  no  telling  how 
much  he  would  have  changed  several  parts.  Indeed,  it 
made  me  feel  half  sick :  I  became  scared,  consulted 
Lizzie,  and  then  rushed  off  to  get  weighed,  expecting 
the  scales  would  turn  somewhere  around  sixty  or 
seventy  pounds ;  but  when  the  hundred-pound  weight 
was  put  on  and  the  machine  didn't  budge  a  millimeter, 
once  more  I  felt  like  a  man.  Then  when  it  turned  at 
one  hundred  and  forty-four,  exactly  my  orthodox  weight 
for  seven  years  before  leaving  home,  I  knew  the 
photographer  had  made  my  picture  to  lie ;  and  why 
shouldn't  he?    He  doubtless  lies  himself  a  hundred 


48  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

times  a  day,  and  to  have  a  machine  that  always  told 
the  truth  would  be  simply  to  put  himself  into  disagree- 
able company." 

A  dialogue  with  a  Buddhist  priest : 

Be  Forest :  "  What  are  the  principal  points  in  your 
teaching  ?  " 

Priest :  "  Keverence  to  the  gods  and  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  the  country." 

DeF. :  "  But  don't  you  teach  any  more  important 
things  ?  " 

P.:  "The  duties,  'Lie  not,'  'Steal  not,'  'Commit 
not  adultery,'  etc." 

DeF. :     "  Do  you  teach  these  things  always  ?  " 

P. :     "  Yes." 

DeF. :  "  And  when  you  teach  the  people  not  to  lie, 
I  suppose  they  obey  you  ?  " 

P. :     "  No,  not  a  bit." 

DeF. :  "  How  about  adultery  ?  Do  the  people 
follow  your  teachings  on  this  ?  " 

P. :     «  Oh,  no  ! " 

DeF. :  "  Then  what  is  the  use  of  your  teaching  and 
preaching  ?  Does  not  the  very  condition  of  your 
country  prove  that  there  is  no  power  in  your  religion 
to  reform  the  people  ?  Your  commandments  are  good 
and  everybody  knows  them,  but  who  follows  them  ? 
Now  contrast  the  religion  of  Jesus.  "We  have  the  same 
laws  and  we  preach  them  constantly,  and  see  with  what 
result !  In  all  Christian  countries  lying  and  prostitu- 
tion are  considered  abominable.  In  all  America  and 
England  not  one  such  harlot  street  as  this  right  near 
can  be  found  ;  and  the  reason  is  because  there  is  power 
behind  this  religion.     We  preach  an  almighty  God  and 


THE  EARLY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     49 

an  almighty  Saviour,  without  which  preaching  forever 
amounts  to  nothing." 

"  Poor  priests !  They  will  soon  have  hard  picking  if 
they  try  to  live  by  clapping  hands,  burning  candles, 
ringing  bells,  and  muttering  old  Sanscrit  words  which 
priests  themselves  don't  understand." 

"  The  work  is  just  what  I  like,  only  I  am  not  fit  to 
be  a  missionary.  I  never  knew  while  in  America  how 
much  of  evil  was  in  my  nature,  until  a  new  line  of 
difficulties  arose  out  here  to  try  my  patience  and  love. 
To  be  repeatedly  cheated  out  of  little  sums,  to  baptize 
persons  and  then  find  them  committing  gross  sins,  to 
lend  money  and  have  the  borrower  talking  evil  of  you, 
to  have  the  most  fault  found  by  those  whom  you  love 
the  most — these  are  some  of  the  trials  of  work  here. 
But  to  see  these  liars  becoming  truthful  and  ashamed 
of  a  lie,  to  have  free  and  easy  young  men  shake  off 
their  old  companions,  to  see  them  suffer  being  disowned 
for  Jesus'  sake,  to  see  them  refuse  government  employ 
and  take  a  bare  living  to  work  for  Christ — these  and 
numberless  things  that  I  can't  tell  on  paper  are  our 

These  then  are  glimpses  of  his  environment  as  this 
missionary  saw  it.  He  saw,  too,  certain  processes 
involved  in  his  adaptation  to  that  environment.  Of 
these  processes,  he  recognized  two  as  being  funda- 
mental, and  he  had  the  foresight  early  to  establish 
means  for  their  completion.  These  two  were  the 
processes  of  becoming  acclimated  and  of  learning  the 
language, — both  necessary  before  full  missionary  work 
could  be  entered  upon. 


50  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

The  American  Board  mission  was  five  years  old  when 
he  joined  it,  but  six  of  the  nine  men  who  were  there 
before  him  had  had  either  prolonged  illnesses  or  threat- 
ened or  actual  breakdowns.  "  Such  was  the  continued 
temptation  to  overwork,"  he  writes,  "  that  Gulick  had 
sent  to  the  Board  to  send  out  one  fat  and  lazy  man  to 
be  a  constant  pattern  to  the  rest ;  and  in  the  first  public 
meeting  after  I  came  he  said  he  hoped  the  Board  had 
granted  his  request  in  sending  me,  who  certainly  was 
not  fat,  but  who  he  hoped  would  prove  lazy  enough  to 
meet  the  conditions."  "  When  I  came  I  found  a  weak 
and  sickly  mission ;  and  no  resolution  of  mine  was  so 
strong  as  this :  *  I  will  not  break  down  from  over- 
work.' "  This  resolution  meant  persevering,  conscien- 
tious regard  for  health  in  a  climate  to  which  he  did  not 
readily  accustom  himself.  Every  spring  for  years  his 
old  malarial  enemy,  "  dumb  ague,  painless,  but  depriv- 
ing one  of  the  power  to  work,"  came  upon  him.  The 
Japanese  house  was  abandoned  for  a  one-story  foreign 
house  on  the  Concession,  of  which  he  later  wrote :  "  If 
my  house  is  damp,  it  certainly  is  not  so  damp  as  some 
of  Paul's  residences."  His  mission  mates,  however, 
discountenanced  his  sleeping  on  the  ground  floor,  and 
in  due  time  voted  a  second  story  on  the  house. 

"  My  first  two  and  a  half  years  in  Japan,"  he  has 
said,  "  were  passed  without  my  averaging  over  an  hour 
a  day  with  my  teacher ;  day  after  day  and  month  after 
month,  I  had  to  send  my  teacher  home  from  sheer 
inability  to  peg  away.  My  experience  is  by  no  means 
solitary,"  he  adds,  with  a  plea  for  giving  newcomers  a 
fair  chance  to  get  acclimated  without  overwork.  For 
himself  the  process  lasted  into  his  fifth  year.  Nature's 
powers  of  adaptation  seem  to  have  been  helped  "  by 


THE  EAKLY  JAPANESE  ENYIEOMIENT      51 

occasionally  eating  a  box  of  Dr.  Taylor's  pills,  and  by 
religiously  observing  every  Saturday  with  mountain 
tramps."  These  tramps  were  made  possible  by  taking 
the  train  to  Kobe,  and  their  only  drawback,  as  far  as 
history  records,  was  that  the  comrades  who  joined  in 
them  were  from  Andover  instead  of  Yale.  "  It  is  very 
trying  to  have  to  tramp  Saturday  after  Saturday  with 
fellows  who  never  heard  the  '  Lathery  Tutor,'  who 
never  caught  a  crab  with  a  steam-bent  oar  and  who 
never  helped  carry  a  cow  up  into  the  third  story. 
Can't  you  send  out  some  more  Yale  boys  ?  " 

The  sultry  summer  weeks,  in  accordance  with  the 
Board's  policy  for  its  missionaries,  were  spent  in  cooler 
spots  among  the  hills, — Arima's  maple  groves  or  Mino's 
waterfalls.  These  vacations  from  city  life,  with  its 
rounds  of  regular  work  and  its  irruptions  of  irregular 
opportunit}^,  were  conscientiously  planned  to  yield  the 
best  possible  physical  results,  not  only  for  restoring 
health,  but  also  for  preventing  the  loss  of  health.  A 
hint  that  missionaries  were  being  criticized  for  over-long 
vacations  elicited  from  Mr.  DeForest  the  explanation 
that  these  weeks,  which  if  spent  in  the  city  would  be 
worthless  to  the  work  on  account  of  his  inability  to  do 
efficient  work  in  the  enervating  heat,  were,  by  being 
spent  where  work  was  possible,  being  of  the  greatest 
advantage  to  the  cause.  For  they  were  not  mere 
vacations,  but  most  welcome  times  for  systematic  study 
and  renewal  of  the  thought-life  so  often  pushed  to  the 
wall  in  the  pressure  of  missionary  work.  To  these 
sufficient  justifications  for  a  reasonable  time  of  absence 
from  the  city  work,  another  was  added  from  the  life  at 
Arima :  "  While  we  are  summering,  we  have  many 
opportunities  of  great  work.     The  Japanese  love  the 


52  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

mountains,  and  hundreds  and  thousands  travel  along 
over  this  range  where  we  are.  We  meet  them,  talk 
with  them,  and  such  meetings  and  talks  have  resulted 
in  the  conversion  of  several  and  in  the  establishment 
of  one  church.  My  present  teacher  is  a  medical  student, 
but  I  felt  sure  that  he  would  turn  favourably  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  so  I  asked  him  to  spend  the  summer  with  me 
on  four  dollars  a  month,  just  enough  to  board  him. 
He  came,  and  now  he  proposes  to  give  up  his  medicine, 
go  to  our  training  school  in  Kyoto,  and  become  a 
minister.  Again  and  again  such  things  occur  here. 
The  lazy  missionary  does  accomplish  something,  even 
in  his  laziest  vacation." 

If  time  for  acclimatization  was  a  stern  necessity, 
still  more  uncompromising  was  the  necessity  of  time 
for  language  study.  At  the  beginning,  of  course,  such 
time  was  taken ;  there  was  little  else  an  absolute  new- 
comer could  do.  But  no  sooner  had  he  the  meagrest 
working  vocabulary  than  the  temptation  was  upon  him 
to  spend  his  time  attending  meetings  and  talking  with 
the  inquirers  who  flocked  to  hear,  yea,  to  see,  this  new 
religion.  One  incident  is  typical  of  many  in  the  first 
five  years :  "  To-day  three  persons  came  asking  me  to 
show  them  Jesus  Christ,  as  they  would  very  much  like 
to  worship  Him  ;  I  seated  them,  and  when  they  found 
that  I  had  no  image  of  Christ  they  were  disappointed ; 
but  two  hours'  talk  opened  the  door  a  little,  and  I  hope 
they  will  be  led  to  inquire  more  and  more  for  Jesus 
Christ  until  they  find  Him."  The  missionary  had  to 
brace  himself  perpetually  against  drifting  with  the 
strong  current  of  present  opportunity  away  from  the 
moorings  of  preparation  for  a  more  efficient  service. 
"  I  wish  to  say  in  self-defense,"  he  wrote,  "  that  although 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  EXVIEONMENT     53 

others  can  preach  after  one  and  a  half  years  of  study 
and  meet  with  success,  I  do  not  feel  equal  to  attempt 
it.  Until  I  have  a  fair  understanding  of  the  people's 
language,  it  is  waste  time  for  me  to  learn  the  religious 
vocabulary.  The  temptation  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  kingdom  is  to  run  before  you  can 
walk."  If  Daniel  and  his  companions,  he  argued, 
were  allowed  three  years  to  learn  the  language  and 
customs  of  a  cognate  people,  much  more  should  mis- 
sionaries to  so  absolutely  foreign  a  land  as  Japan  be 
allowed  at  least  five  years  to  learn  its  "rhinoceros- 
skinned  language  "  that  had  nothing  in  common  with 
the  tongues  of  the  West. 

After  two  and  a  half  years  in  Japan  he  wrote  this 
exhortation  to  his  fellow-missionaries :  "  It  seems  to 
me  that  we  ought  to  look  forward  to  a  life-work  here 
and  to  drop  the  fever-haste  with  which  we  all  have 
plunged  into  work  from  the  time  the  edicts  against 
Christianity  were  taken  down.  Next  year  will  need 
us  more  than  this  year ;  ten  years  from  now  will  need 
us  far  more  than  now ;  the  enlarged  and  growing  work 
will  need  us  more  than  the  work  just  begun."  And  to 
the  Board  he  wrote  :  "  My  whole  future  now  is  mapped 
out  with  sole  reference  to  a  long  and  exclusive  study 
of  the  language  before  beginning  any  special  work. 
The  whole  work  of  the  mission,  I  think,  does  not  de- 
pend at  all  on  any  more  feverish  efforts,  but  on  a  thor- 
ough study  of  the  language ;  and  if  my  health  lasts,  I 
wish  to  be  regarded  hereafter  as  a  student  rather  than 
as  a  missionary  until  1880.  In  this  resolution  of  mine 
I  firmly  believe  that  I  am  doing  what  duty  to  the  home 
churches,  to  the  native  churches,  and  to  our  Lord  and 
Master  requires."     A  few  months  later:  "I  am  over- 


64  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

run  with  work  ;  but  looking  forward  to  long  work,  I 
have  deliberately  and  prayerfully  stopped  going  to 
evening  meetings  except  on  Friday  evening ;  I  teach 
Matthew  to  beginners  one  afternoon  in  the  week,  have 
a  Bible  class  in  Acts  on  Sunday  morning,  and  go  to 
Takatsuki  once  a  month.  I  feel  that  a  life-work  de- 
mands a  solid  foundation  in  the  language  and  a  thor- 
ough acquaintance  with  Japanese  customs  and  char- 
acter, and  therefore  I  shall  be  the  slowest  of  the  slow 
in  speaking  to  public  audiences."  He  was :  with  un- 
skilled teachers  and  few  of  the  language  helps  enjoyed 
to-day,  he  plodded  on  through  nearly  four  years  of 
living  in  Japan  before  he  preached  his  first  formal 
sermon  and  could  write  home  :  "  Rejoice  with  me,  for 
I  am  at  last  booked  as  a  preaching  missionary."  "I 
didn't  mean  to  do  it  until  I  had  been  out  five  years," 
he  added  apologetically,  "  but  really  the  pressure  was 
getting  too  great  to  withstand,  and  I  have  made  the 
sacrifice.  I  have  come  to  believe  from  what  the  na- 
tives tell  me  that  could  I  only  have  a  good  teacher  and 
an  hour  a  day  leisure  for  a  year  or  two  more,  I  should 
be  able  to  express  myself  quite  freely  and  could  hope 
to  stand  before  large  audiences.  It  is  indeed  a  joy  to 
stand  before  our  well-filled  churches  and  tell  them  in 
their  own  tongue  the  things  that  lie  close  to  our  hearts." 
Some  of  the  mile-stones  on  the  path  of  this  progress 
to  the  point  of  preaching  may  be  sighted  from  home 
letters.  ".  .  .  My  maiden  effort  [at  Sunday  school 
after  seven  months  in  Japan] :  it  was  pushed  on  me 
unexpectedly  this  morning,  since  Mr.  Neesima  and 
Dr.  Gordon  were  both  absent ;  so  of  course  I  had  to 
take  charge  of  the  exercises.  First  I  gave  out  the 
hymns  and  sang  in  Japanese  ;  then  I  told  Mrs.  Gordon 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENYIK0M1ENT     55 

I'd  call  on  her  to  pray,  as  she  had  been  here  the  longer ; 
but  she  smiled  and  told  me  to  do  it  myself.  As  I  didn't 
know  any  words,  I  called  on  one  of  the  church-mem- 
bers and  said, '  Sugi  San,  please  pray.'  Then  we  studied 
the  lessons;  and  after  that  always  comes  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  by  the  audience.  I  didn't  know  the  prayer, 
nor  did  I  know  even  the  words  to  start  them  at  it.  So 
I  called  Dr.  Adams'  teacher  to  me  and  got  him  to  tell 
me  what  to  say.  These  are  the  translated  words : 
'  Following  the  copy  that  Jesus  taught  us,  let  us  pray 
all  together.'  When  I  had  said  that,  I  had  forgotten 
the  first  words  of  the  prayer ;  and  there  I  stood  with 
my  eyes  shut,  pumping  for  the  right  words  ;  but  they 
wouldn't  come.  And  as  they  were  all  waiting  for  me, 
I  thought  I  must  say  something,  and  so,  making  a  great 
effort,  I  got  out  just  one  word,  which  was,  '  Us.'  And 
when  I  had  said,  '  Us,'  they,  perceiving  that  that  was 
not  the  copy  our  Lord  had  taught  us,  took  the  matter 
into  their  own  hands  and  left  me  to  do  what  I  had  a 
mind  to.  Then  I  told  them  as  follows :  '  This  after- 
noon from  four  o'clock  Dr.  Gordon  will  do  the  preach- 
ing.' Thus  ended  my  first  attempt  to  lead  a  Japanese 
audience  in  worship.  Now  whenever  you  hear  of  any 
persons  joining  this  church,  don't  think  it  is  the  result 
of  anything  I  said  to  them  to-day." 

Six  months  later  :  "  I  pronounced  the  benediction  in 
Japanese  to-day  for  the  first  time."  Then  shortly  : 
"  Lizzie  and  I  have  begun  prayers  in  Japanese,  and  we 
have  six  or  seven  people  in  every  morning :  our  two 
teachers  come  and  take  turns  with  Lizzie  and  me. 
Lizzie  is  a  huge  missionary  :  she  insisted  that  we  ought 
to  begin  prayers  and  said  it  was  easy.  I  said  it  was 
hard ;  but  we  started,  and  at  my  first  prayer  our  old 


56  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

man  T.  jumped  up  and  said,  '  Why,  master,  you  did 
splendidly ! '  I  had  to  shut  the  old  fellow  up.  The 
next  morning  Lizzie  prayed,  and  right  in  the  midst  of 
the  prayer  she  got  stuck,  trying  to  get  out  a  word 
straight  that  insisted  on  coming  out  backward,  and  old 
T.  giggled  right  out  with  delight.  I  wanted  to  get  up 
and  use  the  shovel  on  him,  but  thought  it  wouldn't  do 
for  a  missionary.  Lizzie,  however,  can  use  more 
language  than  I  can  so  far,  but  I  hope  to  gain  on  her 
yet."  "  I  have  begun  talking  a  little  in  this  tongue : 
I  have  an  out-station  prayer-meeting  every  Monday 
evening  to  take  care  of  now.  The  first  talk  I  made,  I 
prepared  a  short  discourse  on  *  The  True  God,'  how  He 
made  all  things,  how  He  is  everywhere,  and  how  He 
knows  all  things.  I  came  near  dying  with  laughter 
when  I  was  preparing  it  with  my  teacher.  I  was  say- 
ing that  God  made  mankind  :  he  said,  '  But  some  will 
say  that  the  parents  made  us.'  So  I  asked  him  who 
made  the  parents.  He  said  he  knew,  but  that  kind  of 
question  wouldn't  do  for  the  folks  I  was  going  to  talk 
to.  '  I'll  show  you  how  to  do  it,'  he  said ;  '  if  they  say 
that  our  parents  made  us,  then  ask  them  how  it  is  that 
some  rich  merchants  never  have  any  children,  while 
the  poor  farmer  who  hates  them  has  any  number  of 
them ;  and  then  again,  some  people  have  only  girls, 
and  if  they  try  with  all  their  might  they  can't  make  a 
boy.'  At  this  point,  although  my  teacher  was  very 
sincere,  I  broke  into  a  laugh,  and  have  hardly  got  over 
it  yet." 

His  first  impromptu  talk,  after  a  year  and  a  half  in 
Japan :  "  Yesterday,  as  there  were  six  persons  to  join 
the  church  in  Sanda,  Mr.  Leavitt  and  I  went  over. 
Mr.  Gulick  is  the  pastor  of  that  church,  and  he  asked 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENYIEONMENT      57 

me  to  take  part.  I  had  made  no  preparation  and  never 
spoke  to  a  church  audience  in  Japanese,  but  I  wanted 
very  much  to  try  it.  So  I  told  them  what  it  is  to  con- 
fess Christ  before  men :  I  talked  only  three  or  four 
minutes,  for  I  tell  you  it  makes  the  perspiration  run  to 
talk  in  this  language ;  but  I  hope  to  get  to  it  one  of 
these  days."  That  same  summer  at  Arima  :  "  I  made 
it  part  of  my  summer  work  to  have  morning  prayers 
with  the  servants ;  but  some  of  the  people  from  the 
village  began  to  come,  and  at  last  we  had  quite  a 
regular  audience  who  came  half  a  mile  to  prayers.  I 
began  to  think  I  was  a  pretty  smart  fellow.  I  ex- 
pounded Scriptures  to  them  in  Japanese  and  they  looked 
very  much  interested.  There  was  one  old  man  from 
two  hundred  miles  south  of  here  who  seemed  hungry 
to  learn  all  about  the  Bible  ;  so  after  a  few  mornings  I 
undertook  to  talk  to  him  alone,  and  every  question  I 
asked  him,  he  replied  laughing,  '  Well,  really,  I  don't 
understand  you  a  bit.'  Now  that  was  just  a  little  too 
bad,  wasn't  it  ?  Then  again,  one  morning  after  I  had 
prayed,  Lizzie  remarked  how  well  and  smoothly  I  did 
it ;  but  I  asked  the  teacher  about  it,  and  he  took  it 
sentence  by  sentence  and  showed  me  how  it  wouldn't 
do  at  all.  So  I  have  concluded  to  pull  in  my  horns 
and  not  be  too  confident  in  talking  to  folks.  Yet  if  a 
man  will  sit  down  with  me,  I  can  talk  hour  after  hour 
so  that  he  will  understand  about  all  I  mean."  After 
three  and  a  half  years  in  Japan  :  "  I  am  beginning  to 
teach  the  Bible  quite  a  deal.  Those  who  are  used  to 
me  can  understand,  but  I  shall  never  be  eloquent  at  it. 
Everybody  thinks  I  am  on  the  right  methods  to  secure 
a  good  use  of  Japanese,  and  one  or  two  years  more  may 
see  me  preaching." 


58  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

Wisdom  was  justified  of  her  children.  The  fore- 
sighted  policy  of  those  patient  years  of  effort  and  self- 
restraint  proved  itself  in  a  long  career  of  successful  and 
effective  public  speaking — as  well  as  in  the  student 
attitude  that  he  maintained  towards  the  language  all 
his  life,  and  which  prevented  his  use  of  it  from  grow- 
ing stale  in  later  years. 

Besides  the  processes  of  adaptation  to  environment, 
there  are  peculiar  temptations  in  the  first  years  of  a 
missionary's  life.  The  change  from  the  aggressive 
pastor's  work  to  the  hand-bound  and  tongue-tied  student 
is  a  wrench  that  even  the  strongest  must  feel.  Many 
are  the  men  and  the  women  to  whom  this  temporary 
inability  to  express  their  religious  life  in  the  familiar 
methods  of  work  has  seemed  like  spiritual  lethargy,  or 
has  even  threatened  to  become  such.  Anticipating 
this  danger,  Mr.  DeForest,  on  first  arriving  in  Osaka, 
penned  this  determination :  "  Lest  I  rust  while  learning 
the  language,  I  am  going  right  into  school  next  week 
[a  small  day-school  started  by  Mr.  Leavitt],  to  teach 
through  an  interpreter  and  to  interest  myself  personally 
in  some  young  men.  Then  I  shall  have  something  to 
pray  about  and  something  to  keep  me  from  losing  my 
power  of  sympathy." 

Another  temptation  of  the  new  missionary  is  to  feel 
"  out  of  it  " — shelved,  as  it  were,  for  the  time  being  :  a 
dangerous  germ  feeling  that  begets  homesickness,  dis- 
content, and  various  brother  ills  if  the  proper  antidote 
is  not  applied.  Mr.  DeForest  applied  it,  to  his  own 
profit  and  that  of  another  in  America  to  whom  he 
wrote :  "  You  wrote  me  rather  a  sad  letter  the  other 
day.  It  is  very  natural  that  one  who  has  been  so 
publicly  situated  as  you  should  notice  the  change  when 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIKONMENT     59 

you  leave  public  life  and  duties ;  your  position  made 
you  noticed,  and  so  you  were  consulted  and  made  leader 
in  lots  of  ways.  .  .  .  Would  you  believe  it,  I  also 
this  year  have  felt  my  changed  situation  very  much.  I 
was  looked  up  to  in  Mount  Carmel ;  and  now  to  be  off 
here  working  almost  alone,  with  no  good  parishioners 
to  natter  me  and  tell  how  hard  it  was  to  get  along 
without  me, — why,  sometimes  I'd  like  to  be  back  at 
Mount  Carmel  just  one  Sunday  to  have  a  dozen  folks 
tell  me  how  much  they  thought  of  me.  .  .  .  But 
after  all,  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of  such  feelings  is  to 
do  the  little  work  God  gives  us  to  do.  .  .  .  Don't 
let  the  blues  get  a  hold  of  you :  do  what  you  can  for 
Christ  clear  up  to  the  edge  of  life." 

In  this  way  he  himself  kept  up  courage  and  cheer  by 
doing  such  limited  work  as  he  felt  he  could  during  the 
preparatory  years.  Sometimes  it  was  being  a  "  figure- 
head "  to  accompany  native  Christians,  as  in  the  open- 
ing up  of  the  historic  city  of  Sakai  to  Christian  work  ; 
sometimes  it  was  doing  a  deed  of  mercy,  as  in  the  res- 
cue of  a  wounded  beggar  boy  ;  often  it  was  in  literary 
work.  He  had  charge  of  the  publication  and  distribu- 
tion of  Christian  literature  for  the  mission,  and  al- 
though at  times  begrudging  the  hours  spent  "  figuring 
on  two-cent  books,"  he  was  happy  to  note  the  growing 
popularity  of  Christian  publications  as  evidenced  in  the 
fact  that  the  sales  for  December,  1876,  were  five  or  six 
times  as  great  as  in  the  previous  December.  "  One  of 
our  Christians,"  he  adds,  "  has  applied  for  and  received 
from  the  government  permission  to  translate  and  sell 
Williamson's  '  Natural  Theology.'  This  is  said  to  be 
the  first  permission  given  by  Japan  to  print  a  work 
pleading    for    the  Christian  religion."    Through  his 


60  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

Japanese  teacher  and  secretary  and  the  offices  of  trans- 
lators he  himself  was  able  early  to  prepare  various 
manuscripts  for  publication  ;  in  fact,  the  first  volume  of 
an  illustrated  Bible  dictionary  was  ready  for  print  in 
time  to  celebrate  the  close  of  that  introductory  five- 
year  period.  Occasional  articles  for  American  papers 
were  written  in  response  to  the  expressed  desire  of  the 
American  Board  secretary,  although  at  first  Mr.  De- 
Forest  demurred  a  bit,  saying,  "  Such  work  tells  on 
one's  strength  and  its  worth  is  questionable."  Of  this 
doubt  he  later  repented ;  he  came  to  consider  it  a  vital 
part  of  a  missionary's  work  to  keep  that  work  in  its 
broad  relations  before  the  public  mind  at  the  home 
base. 

If  then  the  missionary  successfully  escapes  or  con- 
quers the  temptation  to  grow  cold  and  the  temptation 
to  feel  neglected,  there  is  his  third  enemy  ready  for  the 
attack, — the  temptation  to  Pharisaism.  Such  precon- 
ceptions of  the  Japanese  as  Mr.  DeForest  had  had  be- 
fore going  to  Japan  pictured  them  merely  as  historic 
"  heathen  "  with  possibilities.  That  was  all  that  the 
West,  except  for  a  few  specialists,  knew  of  them  in 
those  days,  and  what  those  possibilities  were  it  was  as 
yet  beyond  the  power  of  an  Occidental  to  predict. 
The  evidences  of  idolatry  and  vice  on  every  hand  only 
confirmed  to  the  newcomer  his  previous  characteriza- 
tion of  the  nation.  His  heart  burned  within  him  to  at- 
tack and  overthrow  the  citadels  of  evil  about  him. 
The  edicts  against  Christianity  had  been  removed  from 
the  sign-boards  only  the  year  before  his  arrival  in  Japan ; 
and  as  the  realization  grew  in  the  mind  of  the  Japa- 
nese public  that  the  hitherto  hated  "  Yaso  (Jesus)  Way  " 
was  no  longer  a  proscribed  teaching,  with  eager  in- 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     61 

quiry  for  all  new  things  the  people  sought  the  teach- 
ers of  this  foreign  religion  to  see  if  it  was  as  much 
wanted  as  the  science  and  the  inventions  that  were 
coming  from  the  West.  This  eagerness  and  the  disciple 
attitude  on  the  part  of  many  would  tend  further  to 
confirm,  although  often  unconsciously,  the  missionary's 
sense  of  having  everything  to  impart  and  nothing  to 
receive  that  could  be  of  value  as  spiritual  nutriment. 

Fortunately  life  itself  furnished  the  balance-wheel  to 
offset  this  attitude  ;  it  kept  him  too  busy  to  indulge  it. 
The  demands  made  on  his  sympathy  in  times  of  calam- 
ity, the  constant  opportunity  to  help  struggling  stu- 
dents, the  necessity  of  fighting  temptations  and  dis- 
couragements within  as  well  as  without,  the  pioneer 
quality  of  the  task  to  which  he  was  set,  compelling  to 
the  thoughtful  construction  of  working  policies  for  the 
future,  the  recognition  of  the  staunch  heroism  of  early 
converts, — these  things  kept  the  warm  generous  blood 
flowing  to  carry  off  from  the  veins  the  ready  poison  of 
the  "  holier-than-thou  "  attitude.  He  had  the  two  uni- 
versal antidotes  for  both  missionary  blues  and  Pharisa- 
ism. On  the  subjective  side,  there  was  the  conscious- 
ness of  contact  with  and  dependence  upon  the  Source 
of  spiritual  power ;  he  wrote  home :  "  No  prayer  of 
yours,  if  offered  with  true  heart  for  these  people,  is 
useless  ;  do  all  of  you  help  me  daily  in  this  way."  On 
the  objective  side,  there  was  his  high  ideal  of  the  worth, 
dignity,  and  possibilities  of  the  native  church.  The 
power  of  some  of  the  Christians  deeply  impressed  him, 
especially  in  an  early  visit  to  the  Doshisha  school. 
There  he  saw  "  seventy  young  men,  some  of  whom  have 
been  threatened  with  assassination,  have  been  disowned, 
and  have  been  imprisoned  for  the  sake  of  believing  in 


62  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOBEST 

Jesus.  Some  are  studying  sciences,  English,  etc.,  but 
the  most  want  to  be  preachers ;  it  was  just  fun  to  sit 
there  and  hear  them  recite  and  see  how  keen  and  sharp 
they  were.  They  were  as  bright  as  the  fellows  in 
Yale,  and  will  make  a  bigger  mark  in  this  country 
than  most  Yale  boys  ever  do  in  America.  It  was  my 
good  fortune  to  happen  there  when  these  young  men 
met  to  form  a  church.  They  are  full  of  work.  I 
reckon  that  the  average  Christian  here  does  eight  or 
ten  times  as  much  work  as  the  average  Christian  at 
home." 

No  question  of  early  mission  policy  was  as  critical  as 
that  of  the  financial  relations  of  the  new  churches  to 
the  mission.  In  that  "  unyielding  champion  of  self- 
support,"  Kev.  H.  H.  Leavitt,  a  year  his  senior  on  the 
field,  Mr.  DeForest  had  a  colleague  whose  high  ideals 
for  the  Japanese  church  were  of  great  help  and  stim- 
ulus. In  those  days  when  it  was  often  necessary,  and 
always  easy,  to  have  a  missionary  for  pastor,  it  was 
Mr.  Leavitt  who  launched  the  first  enterprise  of  a 
Japanese  church  supporting  its  own  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Paul  Sawayama.  "  A  little  band  of  less  than  a  dozen 
Christians  in  Osaka,"  runs  Mr.  DeForest 's  account, 
"  wanted  Mr.  Sawayama  as  their  pastor,  and  he  was 
eager  to  accept  their  call,  but  how  could  they  support 
him  ?  They  frankly  said  they  could  only  pay  the  rent 
of  a  preaching-place  and  the  running  expenses,  and 
even  that  cost  self-denial  on  their  part.  Sawayama 
needed  forty  dollars  a  month,  but  offered  to  live  on 
twenty-five.  These  few  Christians  reconsidered  with 
prayer  what  they  could  do,  and  with  great  effort  they 
subscribed  six  dollars  a  month  for  their  pastor's  salary. 
When  Mr.  Sawayama,  in  the  same  spirit  of  prayerful 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIEONMENT     63 

self-sacrifice,  accepted  this  offer,  saying  he  would  trans- 
late and  teach  enough  to  make  up  the  rest  of  his  living 
until  his  church  could  fully  support  him,  there  wasn't 
a  missionary  in  Japan  save  Mr.  Leavitt  but  thought  it 
would  end  in  failure.  It  was,  however,  a  grand  suc- 
cess. His  church  grew  in  membership  and  in  faith. 
Yery  soon  they  had  paid  him  twenty -five  dollars  a 
month,  and  the  telling  words  in  his  biography  do  not 
match  the  reality  of  the  victory  he  won :  '  The 
Naniwa  Church  at  the  end  of  five  years  had  increased 
its  yearly  contributions  from  seventy  dollars  to  seven 
hundred  dollars.  It  had  started  another  independent 
church  in  Osaka,  and  made  a  beginning  of  Christian 
work  in  nine  other  places.  It  had  also  established  a 
Christian  girls'  school  in  the  city.'  "  This  school,  the 
Baikwa  Girls'  School,  was  particularly  noteworthy  as 
the  first  one  of  its  kind  in  Japan.  On  New  Year's 
night,  1878,  "  while  we  missionaries  were  praying  for 
the  spirit  of  prayer  to  come  upon  all  our  churches,  the 
two  churches  were  assembled  to  settle  a  great  question, 
namely,  '  Can  these  two  churches  of  about  twenty-five 
members  each  establish  and  sustain  a  girls'  boarding- 
school  in  Osaka  ? '  They  voted  that  they  could  and 
would  establish  it,"  and  it  opened  the  seventh  of  Jan- 
uary with  fifteen  scholars. 

Mr.  DeForest's  connection  in  those  years  was  not 
with  Mr.  Sawayama's  church,  but  with  the  First 
Church,  of  which  Dr.  Gordon  was  then  pastor.  A  few 
extracts  from  letters  show  the  attitude  he  and  his  fel- 
low-workers took.  "December  30, 1876.  We  have  just 
closed  a  three  days'  mission  meeting  here  which  was 
every  way  glorious :  we  have  laid  down  for  ourselves  a 
mission  policy  that  contemplates  the  putting  of  a  [na- 


64  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

tive]  pastorate  over  these  rapidly  forming  churches, 
which  should  be  perfectly  independent  of  any  foreign 
money.  .  .  .  [The  meeting  was]  harmonious,  ear- 
nest, and  prayerful,  looking  forward  to  a  work  already 
inclined  to  run  ahead  of  us,  and  by  no  means  unlikely 
to  run  away  from  us,  leaving  us  to  see  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  pass  by." 

As  Dr.  Gordon  was  leaving  on  furlough  in  the  spring 
of  1877,  Mr.  DeForest  writes  :  "  They  talked  to  me  as 
Dr.  Gordon's  successor,  but  I  told  them  that  their 
truest  growth  could  be  secured  in  no  other  way  than 
by  getting  at  the  earliest  possible  date  a  native  pastor, 
and  that  both  Dr.  Gordon  and  myself  were  of  the 
opinion  that  even  were  he  to  stay  here  the  time  had 
come  for  a  movement  looking  to  self -organization. 
Paul  never  consented  to  be  pastor  over  any  church, 
and  so  we  came  here  not  to  be  pastors,  but  to  make 
pastors  and  to  start  churches."  Consequently  the 
church  engaged  a  Japanese  acting  pastor  at  a  salary  of 
about  four  dollars  a  month.  This  first  step  towards 
self-support  meant  radical  changes.  It  separated  the 
wheat  from  the  chaff  of  "  those  who  thought  they 
were  doing  us  a  favour  to  be  baptized,  but  were  unwill- 
ing to  be  at  any  sacrifice  for  their  profession."  It  "  re- 
vealed some  most  shameful  lives  on  the  part  of  sev- 
eral ;  and  we  had  to  expel  the  drunkards,  liars,  etc.,  of 
whom  we  had  once  hoped  very  much."  But  in  spite 
of  its  losses  and  some  faint-hearted  members,  so  suc- 
cessful was  this  move  towards  self-support  that  within 
six  months  the  church  that  had  not  raised  fifty  dollars 
in  all  the  previous  year  was  raising  about  twenty  dollars 
a  month  and  was  showing  signs  of  new  spiritual  vigour. 
"  Yesterday  was  a  high  day  with  the  First  Church. 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIRONMENT     65 

The  public  service  was  of  unusual  interest  because  it 
was  a  union  service  of  the  two  churches ;  because  two 
men  united  with  the  church  ;  because  the  services  were 
conducted  almost  exclusively  by  Japanese  ;  and  because 
we  had  our  little  girl,  the  fattest  baby  the  Board  has 
in  Japan,  baptized  by  Sawayama  San.  The  meetings 
were  held  for  the  last  time  in  the  chapel  we  have  hired 
for  three  years.  The  example  of  independence  set  by 
their  daughter  church  has  led  to  the  desire  to  lean  no 
longer  on  foreign  money ;  and  though  I  told  the 
Christians  they  could  have  the  old  chapel  until  winter, 
they  have  rented  a  place  about  the  same  size  on  the 
same  street  and  in  about  as  good  a  locality,  for  half  the 
rent  of  the  old  chapel,  and  are  fitting  it  up  for  the  first 
services  next  Sunday.  It  is  wonderful  how  well  the 
Christians  take  to  the  idea  of  self-support.'' 

It  was,  however,  a  keen  struggle  for  years.  "  I  have 
as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  their  money  matters," 
was  Mr.  DeForest's  attitude.  "  A  few  days  ago  their 
treasurer  came  and  showed  me  all  their  accounts,  and 
said  that  he  felt  it  to  be  impossible  to  increase  the 
pastor's  salary,  and  asked  me  if  I  felt  disposed  to  help 
[with  mission  funds]  ;  to  which  I  said,  '  Yes,  I  want  to 
give  you  all  the  money  you  need  ;  it  is  the  easiest  way 
for  me  to  do.  But  when  a  church  is  five  years  old  and 
steadily  increasing  in  membership,  to  listen  to  a  request 
for  money  is  a  very  grave  thing.  It  would  be  a  very 
bad  example  for  the  young  churches  now  forming,  and 
I  am  convinced  that  the  truest  love  will  be  shown  by 
leaving  you  to  carry  on  your  own  finances.'  Within 
twenty-four  hours  he  came  back  to  me,  saying,  '  I'm 
sorry  to  have  troubled  you ;  I  think  we  can  do  it 
alone.' " 


66  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

The  early  formation  of  a  home  missionary  society 
among  these  young  churches  was  another  evidence  of 
their  earnestness,  and  gave  another  opportunity  for 
demonstrating  the  principle  of  self-support.  "  Church 
history  makes  fast  here  in  Japan.  This  missionary 
society  has  just  held  its  annual  meeting,  and  the 
churches  came  together  vying  with  each  other  as  to 
which  should  have  the  best  report.  How  other 
churches  managed  I  don't  know,  but  the  one  I  know 
most  about  was  in  a  poor  condition.  The  acting  pastor 
came  to  me  utterly  discouraged,  saying  that  since  sum- 
mer his  church  had  collected  only  about  twenty-eight 
cents,  and  asked  me  if  I  wouldn't  contribute  to  save 
them  from  disgrace :  for  it  was  within  three  days  of 
the  meeting,  and  though  he  had  urged  his  people  again 
and  again  to  remember  the  cause,  they  had  paid  little 
or  no  heed  to  his  words.  I  told  him  my  heart  was  to 
help  him  and  the  church  in  every  way  I  could,  but  for 
me  to  give  money  so  that  his  church  might  keep  a 
good  reputation  was  simply  acting  a  falsehood.  i  Well, 
then,'  he  said  sadly,  '  I  can't  go  to  the  annual  meeting  ; 
I  should  have  no  face,  only  shame.'  '  That's  just  the 
speech  to  make  to  your  people,'  I  said  ;  '  when  they 
see  your  shame,  they  too  will  feel  it.'  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  he  went  to  the  meeting.  I  fell  in  with  him  as 
he  was  leaving  the  cars,  and  asked,  '  What  success  ? ' 
With  a  glad  face  and  no  shame  he  said,  '  Four  dollars.' 
And  with  congratulations  I  handed  him  three  more  ; 
for  the  matter  of  reputation  was  no  longer  at  stake." 

Thus  the  young  church  had  its  ups  and  downs  :  the 
young  missionary  likewise  had  his ;  but  the  ups  won 
out.  There  was  too  much  of  faith,  hope,  and  love,  and 
conscious  growth  of  mind  and  spirit,  to  have  it  other- 


THE  EAELY  JAPANESE  ENVIKONMENT     67 

wise.  "  The  missionaries  do  have  a  nice  time,"  he 
admits ;  "it  is  their  nature.  The  great  missionary 
Paul  said  he  did,  and  all  his  letters  show  it;  some 
people  tried  to  prevent  it  in  all  sorts  of  mean  ways, 
but  they  signally  failed.  The  old  missionary  had  a 
great  many  pet  words,  and  among  them  stand  con- 
spicuous the  words  '  joy '  and  '  rejoice.'  From  that 
time  down  through  the  ages  missionaries  have  had  the 
stamp  of  joy  on  their  lives.  '  What  are  some  of  the 
peculiar  self-denials  of  a  missionary  ? '  a  young  man 
once  asked  of  a  veteran.  i  There  are  none,'  was  the 
quick  reply.  .  .  .  But  a  missionary's  business  is  a 
serious  business  :  all  these  Japanese  have  souls  to  be 
saved  or  lost,  and  I  am  here  to  be  a  blessing  to  them 
if  possible.  In  this  work  I  want  your  warmest  sym- 
pathy and  prayers.  I  am  poor  enough  as  a  missionary ; 
I  want  to  be  better,  more  helpful  and  useful  here  than  I 
could  be  anywhere  else.  ...  [I  am]  filled  with 
hope  over  my  own  discouragements,  because  the  whole 
Christian  world  seems  to  be  gaining  in  the  expectation 
of  the  speedy  conversion  of  all  the  world." 

"  If  you  should  come  here  to  Japan,"  he  wrote  to 
the  divinity  students  at  Yale,  "  you  would  find  your- 
selves in  a  perpetual  revival,  the  intense  excitement 
and  joy  of  which  cannot  be  surpassed.  You  would 
find  room  for  intellectual  expansion  such  as  you  can 
only  faintly  conceive  of.  And  if  you  should  share  our 
belief  that  these  thirty-three  millions  of  people  are  all 
going  to  hear  of  the  Gospel,  all  have  the  Bible  at  their 
hands,  and  all  going  to  stop  worshipping  idols  before 
1900,  you  would  have  got  that  which,  even  if  you 
never  added  more  to  it,  would  give  an  unquenchable 
delight.     '  Brethren,  pray  for  us,'  especially  that  these 


68  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

bodies  of  ours  may  hold  together  until  the  above  date 
or  thereabouts,  when  we  confidently  expect  Japan  will 
be  a  part  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Lord.  At  that  time 
none  of  us  would  be  as  old  as  Simeon  was,  but  we 
shall  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  Lord  and  be  ready  to 
depart." 


Ill 

A  Preaching  Missionary  " 


"  Why  they  have  never  known  the  way  before, 
Why  hundreds  stand  outside  Thy  mercy's  door, — 
I  know  not ;  but  I  ask,  dear  Lord,  that  Thou 
Wilt  lead  them  now  ! 

"  Eternal  death  to  live  away  from  Thee  ; 
Eternal  loss  apart  from  Thee  to  be ; 
Eternal  gain  to  have  in  Thee  some  part, — 
To  know  Thou  art !  " 

— C.  C.  F.  Tytler. 


Ill 

"A  PREACHING  MISSION  AEY  » 

"  Osaka,  November  3,  1880. 
u  Tp^  EAK  MOTHER,  Brothers,  Sisters,  Nephews, 
1  and  Nieces,  Merry  Christmas  and  Happy 
1   J   New  Year  from  John,  the  (small)  apostle  to 

the  Japanese. 

"  Well,  it  is  six  years  since  we  parted,  and  we  can 
none  of  us  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  God  has 
blessed  us  all.  Doubtless  every  one  of  you  has  changed 
very  much  in  six  years :  I'm  sure  I  have.  And  if  we 
all  were  to  come  together  for  a  dinner-party,  what 
would  we  talk  about  ?  Probably  many  of  you,  seeing 
the  lack  of  hair  on  my  head  and  remembering  that  I 
am  a  solemn  missionary,  would  think  it  proper  to  have 
me  ask  the  blessing.  Those  of  you  who  have  read 
missionary  biographies  might  expect  me  then  to  tell 
you  about  the  heathen  over  here  and  the  way  we 
preach.  "Well,  I  should  like  nothing  better.  For  six 
years  have  made  me  love  Japan  and  the  Japanese  and 
the  work  more  than  I  ever  thought  it  possible.  And  I 
guess  I  could  tell  you  about  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  you  keep  awake.  The  great  trouble  would  be 
where  to  begin.  My  work  constantly  changes  so  that 
no  two  years  are  alike. 

"  Last  year  my  particular  work  was  evening  talks  in 
the  houses  of  those  people  who  wanted  to  hear  a 
foreigner  tell  about  the  religion  of  Jesus.      I  went 

71 


72  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

night  after  night  to  different  places  and  always 
received  the  very  best  attention.  We  all  sit  on  the 
floor  around  two  or  three  hibachi,  '  fire-bowls,' — for 
you  know  they  don't  use  chairs  or  stoves  here.  Every- 
body feels  chatty,  so  there  are  no  embarrassing  breaks 
in  the  conversation.  The  little  teakettle  is  on  the  fire- 
bowl,  and  the  tiny  teacups  on  a  tray.  After  a  pleasant 
half-hour  of  news-talking,  we  each  take  a  Gospel  and 
read  *  a  verse  around,  have  it  fully  explained  by  them  if 
they  can  explain  it,  and  hwhere  they  fail  I  correct, 
telling  apt  stories  and  Western  customs  to  make  them 
interested.  We  sing,  too,  though  perhaps  you  might 
be  in  doubt  were  you  to  hear  us.  But  as  the  Japanese 
seldom  sing  except  in  connection  with  bad  women  and 
wine,1  they  make  queer  work  at  it.  Many  cultured 
Japanese  at  first  won't  go  to  our  churches  because  we 
sing.  They  think  it  a  shame  to  sing  unless  it  is  in  a 
bad  house.  But  we  say  that  God  made  us  with  glad 
voices  and  we  should  use  them  in  praising  and  thanking 
Him ;  and  so  we  insist  on  our  music.  Seventeen  cats 
by  night  are  no  comparison  once  in  a  while,  but  gradu- 
ally they  are  learning  to  sing  after  our  style.  We 
pray,  too,  and  you  might  think  their  way  of  getting  at 
it  quite  funny  ;  but  I  am  used  to  it.  The  leader  of  the 
meeting  will  say,  'Hidezo,  you  please  pray.'  He 
laughs  and  says,  'Keally,  I'm  mighty  awkward  at 
praying  ;  you'd  better  excuse  me.'  '  Oh,  no,  you  can  do 
it  first-rate ;  try  it  once.'  'All  right,  then,  I'll  give  it 
a  trial.'  And  while  they  all  smile  and  giggle,  Hidezo 
begins  and  prays.  When  he  gets  through,  one  and 
another  will  say,  *  Oh,  you  did  excellently.'     '  You  can 

1  A  condition  that  could  not  long  survive  the  introduction  of  musio 
into  the  public  schools,  and  the  spread  of  Christianity. 


"  A  PEE  ACHING  MISSION  AEY  »  73 

pray  first-rate.'  '  Indeed,  that's  a  wonderful  prayer.' 
Then  if  it  be  a  rich  man's  house,  he  orders  in  a  tiny 
dish  of  little  cakes  and  candies  with  the  tea,  and  the 
Bible  stories  are  freely  talked  over  with  any  other 
stories  that  may  chance  to  get  into  their  minds.  The 
soft  mats  we  sit  on,  the  warm  charcoal  fires,  and  the 
perfectly  clean  rooms  enclosed  with  paper  doors,  make 
a  very  cozy  place  for  little  social  studies  of  the  Bible 
and  of  the  people  too.  When  it  comes  on  towards  ten 
o'clock,  I  start  to  go  ;  at  which  they  all  bow  clear  down 
to  the  floor ;  I,  doing  likewise,  start  for  the  door. 
One  politely  hands  me  my  shoes  or  coat,  and  with 
repeated  good-night  we  go  home.  My  fat  companion, 
Dr.  Takagi,  who  last  winter  always  went  with  me  to 
help  on  the  good  work,  was  with  me  one  night  when 
we  both  got  into  one  jinrikisha  to  ride  home.  But  the 
fat  man  and  I  are  a  big  load  for  one  man  to  haul,  and 
hitting  the  curbstone  on  the  start,  over  we  went  back- 
wards, carrying  the  coolie  right  off  his  feet  up  into  the 
air.  There  we  stayed  for  a  few  moments,  feet  pointing 
to  the  stars,  and  we  wedged  in  so  tight  that  we  couldn't 
even  roll  out.  However,  I  managed  to  turn  a  somer- 
sault and  so  got  out,  the  fat  doctor  rolling  after  me. 
"Wish  I  could  draw  a  picture  of  it ! — Well,  last  winter  I 
spent  my  strength  in  that  kind  of  work ;  and  besides 
doing  good  to  those  who  heard,  I  learned  a  great  deal 
about  the  inside  customs,  so  that  I  feel  far  more  confi- 
dence in  preaching  than  I  ever  did  before. 

"  This  year  I  am  doing  a  very  different  kind  of  work. 
I  am  preaching  to  large  audiences,  not  only  in  Osaka, 
but  travelling  off  one  hundred  or  more  miles  to  meet 
the  cordial  invitations  that  keep  coming  to  me.  Have 
lately  completed  a  long  tour  and  spoken  to  the  largest 


74  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

audiences  any  one  has  yet  addressed  in  this  part  of 
Japan  on  Christianity.  Went  to  Okay  am  a,  where 
three  of  our  missionary  families  are  stationed,  and 
preached  four  nights  on  the  Ten  Commandments.  I 
tell  you,  the  second  commandment  makes  music  for  an 
audience  here.  When  I  describe  the  first  old  woman 
that  I  saw  worship  an  idol  at  Tokyo,  just  after  I  landed 
in  Japan,  and  go  through  the  motions  she  made  before 
a  red-painted  god,  it  always  makes  a  huge  laugh. 
Then  when  I  pretend  that  I  am  an  idolater,  and  repeat 
their  nonsensical  prayers  through  my  nose  and  clap  my 
hands  reverentially  as  they  do,  they  enjoy  it  as  much 
as  though  it  were  a  theatre.  Then  turning  away  from 
fun,  I  tell  them  about  the  reasonableness  of  the  true 
religion  and  the  great  gain  of  knowing  and  serving  God. 
There  are  always  some  who  say, '  Keally,  it's  just  as  the 
foreigner  said.'  Last  evening  a  man  called  on  me  ;  he 
turned  out  to  be  a  deacon  of  the  Okayama  church ; 
said  he  heard  my  four  sermons  there,  and  that  many 
were  exceedingly  interested  in  what  I  had  preached  ; 
also  that  they  were  hoping  to  get  me  to  come  again 
soon.  I  have  just  begun  in  two  places  here  in  Osaka 
a  series  of  meetings  for  one  month  on  trial ;  have  had 
about  ten  meetings  already,  and  two  preachers  every 
night.  Hope  in  January  to  have  three  places  where  a 
steady  stream  of  preaching  will  go  on  night  after 
night  until  believers  are  multiplied.  Preaching  here  is 
very  different  from  what  it  was  in  the  States.  While 
most  of  the  people  are  quick-witted  and  good  listeners, 
yet  their  moral  life  is  so  dead  that  we  have  to  begin 
pretty  low  to  get  them  to  understand  sin.  I  expect  to 
go  next  week  to  Koriyama,  twenty-five  miles  off,  for 
one  night.     Have  written  for  a  pass  to  travel  through 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MISSIONARY"  75 

Central  Japan,  and  expect  to  start  in  January  some 
time. 

"Besides  this  preaching  business,  am  working  at 
making  books  for  the  Japanese.  They  love  reading, 
and  so  we  have  to  hasten  to  give  them  good,  substantial, 
interesting  books  as  fast  as  possible.  In  this  work  I 
employ  a  bright  young  preacher  to  translate  '  Laws  of 
Nature,'  and  pay  him  about  three  dollars  a  month  for 
an  hour  a  day.  If  he  works  two  hours  he  gets  six 
dollars,  and  so  on.  I  hire  another  active  preacher  to 
read  manuscripts  and  to  correct  mistakes.  I  hire  a 
bright  student  in  Kyoto  to  translate  '  The  Madagascar 
Church.'  I  hire  a  good  writer  to  write  out  my  sermons, 
to  correct  them  for  publication,  and  to  correct  the 
books  other  missionaries  make.  So  you  see,  I  have  my 
hands  full  to  overflowing. 

"  Well,  what  my  work  will  be  next  year  I  can't  fore- 
see. But  just  as  God  leads  me,  I  will  try  to  do  the  best 
I  can.  Much  love  and  many  happy  New  Years  to 
you  all. 

"  As  ever  your 

"  Jno." 

These  glimpses  of  what  a  "  preaching  missionary " 
did  and  how  he  went  about  his  evangelistic  work  give 
a  general  view  of  the  types  of  activity  that  occupied 
the  next  few  years.  Those  early  hihachi  meetings 
seem  to  have  been  a  wonderful  combination  of  Bible 
class,  inquirers'  meeting,  workers'  class,  and  experience 
meeting.  "The  hihachi  is  a  first-class  invention  for 
helping  sociability :  I  don't  know  how  we  could  have 
gotten  on  so  fast,  had  we  been  obliged  to  sit  in  chairs 
at  respectful  distances  and  try  to  introduce  serious  sub- 


76  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST  , 

jects ;  but  on  the  floor  with  our  heads  close  together 
over  an  open  Bible,  with  hibachis  enough  for  as  many 
as  are  present,  the  truth  is  taught  naturally  and  far 
more  eagerly  than  any  ordinary  information  is  conveyed. 
.  .  .  These  hibachi  classes  furnish  Christian  work 
for  every  grade  of  ability.  We  have  splendid  old  men 
and  women  whose  daily  delight  it  is  to  give  themselves 
to  the  work.  We  have  even  boys  and  girls  that  are 
thus  leading  others  out  of  darkness  into  eternal  light. 
.  .  .  We  are  everywhere  drilling  it  into  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  the  converts  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
centre  and  substance  of  the  Bible,  and  that  to  know 
Him  is  eternal  life.  Hence  the  Gospels  are  taught 
more  than  anything  else :  these  four  books  are  gone 
over  again  and  again,  in  order  that  Christians  may  be 
sure  to  tell  about  Jesus  whenever  they  talk  about  this 
<  Way.' " 

It  is  a  temptation  to  digress  by  citing  incidents  to 
show  the  fruitfulness  of  this  hand-to-hand  work.  It 
was  the  inevitable  result  of  the  long  period  of  national 
hatred  and  persecution  of  Christianity  that  the  early 
church  should  have  been  built  of  small  congregations 
gathered  from  small  groups  of  inquirers.  It  was  later 
no  less  natural  that,  official  opposition  being  gone  and 
a  favourable  impression  having  been  created,  an  era  of 
popularity  ensued,  of  which  Mr.  DeForest  wrote  in 
1880  :  "  I  wish  every  Christian  in  America  fully  realized 
that  within  the  last  six  months  there  has  come  a  mar- 
vellous charge  over  this  nation,  so  that  now  the  largest 
theatres  in  the  largest  cities  cannot  hold  the  thousands 
that  will  crowd  together  to  hear  about  the  '  new  Way.' 
Even  the  native  papers  feel  the  deepening  interest,  and 
are  informing  their  readers  in  long  editorials  and  items 


"  A  PEE  ACHING  MISSION  AEY  »  77 

that  Christianity  is  spreading  like  a  great  irresistible 
wave  over  the  whole  land.  Some,  choking  with  rage, 
are  calling  upon  the  people  to  keep  clear  of  this  cursed 
religion  of  Jesus ;  while  others  affirm  that  it  will  surely 
supersede  Buddhism  and  Shintoism  unless  it  is  speedily 
checked  ;  and  others  yet  boldly  assert  that  Christianity 
is  the  only  worthy  religion,  all  others  degrading  the 
nations  that  practice  them,  and  depriving  them  of  the 
one  glory  of  mankind — liberty.  With  the  press  thus 
drawn  into  the  contest,  of  course  the  priests  are  at  last 
alarmed.  Heretofore  they  have  reviled  the  Jesus  Way, 
and  it  is  said  that  one  of  the  chief  men  of  Buddhism 
told  Miss  Bird  [author  of  "  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan  "] 
that  Christianity  could  do  no  harm  to  Buddhism,  for 
the  missionaries  have  been  here  some  twenty  years  and 
have  only  some  five  or  six  hundred  followers.  But 
now  Buddhism  and  Shintoism,  in  spite  of  their  great 
wealth  and  influence,  are  both  thoroughly  alarmed  and 
are  preaching  and  publishing  against  the  new  Way, — 
all  of  which  is  an  immense  help  to  us  in  actually  spread- 
ing the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Indeed,  I  believe  that 
more  Christian  truth  has  been  sown  within  the  last  six 
months  in  Japan  than  can  be  measured  by  all  the  work 
of  the  missionaries  since  the  landing  of  Commodore 
Perry,  and  that  largely  by  the  ill-advised  labours  of  the 
enemies  of  the  truth."  But  the  Christians,  trained  in 
hibachi  meetings,  "  are  not  only  not  scared  by  this  wide 
intellectual  uproar,  but  they  are  even  eagerly  entering 
into  every  class  of  society,  teaching  soldiers  and  citizens, 
rulers  and  the  ruled,  the  educated  and  the  ignorant,  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  about  the  one  true  God  and  His  Son 
Jesus  Christ." 

Those  were  indeed  days  to  stir  the  fighting  blood  in 


78  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

missionary  veins.  The  Buddhists,  aroused  from  indif- 
ference, started  a  paper  in  Kyoto,  the  sole  purpose  of 
which  was  to  check  Christianity ;  a  booklet  on  "  The 
Unreasonableness  of  Christianity  "  was  freely  distrib- 
uted by  the  thousands,  and  preaching  services  in  im- 
itation of  the  Christians'  methods  were  carried  on. 
Another  gift-tract  represented  Christianity  as  injurious 
to  national  life, — for  had  it  not  incited  many  horrible 
wars  ?  Buddhist  priests  bought  the  Bible  in  order  to 
make  use  of  it  in  their  own  preaching.  "  In  the  sale  of 
Bibles  and  religious  books  our  colporteurs  report  that 
the  heaviest  buyers  are  always  the  priests.  They  buy 
openly,  many  study  openly,  and  some  carry  boldly  and 
smilingly  our  books  to  their  preaching  desks,  and  holding 
them  up  in  the  middle  of  a  sermon,  give  their  opinion, 
praising  some  things,  and  quietly  affirming  that  others 
are  below  even  the  most  inferior  of  Buddhistic  writings." 
"  The  Buddhist  brethren  are  not  slow  to  appropriate  a 
good  idea  :  indeed,  in  Osaka  only  the  other  day  a  Bud- 
dhist priest  was  heard  boldly  reading  to  his  audience  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  substituting  the  word  '  Shaka  ' 
[Buddha]  for  Jesus  :  '  Shaka  says,  "  Blessed  are  the 
poor  in  spirit,"  etc'  " 

Opposition  to  Christianity  was  included  with  opposi- 
tion to  all  foreign  things  in  the  activities  of  some  or- 
ganizations, whose  labours  were  more  amusing  than 
influential,  to  judge  by  the  following  incidents  :  "Dur- 
ing a  recent  visit  around  Lake  Biwa,  being  invited  to  a 
feast  by  a  wealthy  merchant,  we  learned  of  a  few  in- 
stances in  which  protection  [for  Japanese  products]  had 
been  tried  in  the  interior.  Our  host,  though  a  Buddhist, 
was  not  backward  in  raising  a  laugh  at  the  expense  of 
a  certain  priest  from  Kumamoto.     This  teacher  of  re- 


1  <  A  PKEACHING  MISSIOSTAEY ' '  79 

ligion  had  been  preaching  around  here  with  great  zeal 
upon  the  necessity  of  abstaining  from  the  use  of  every 
foreign  article,  no  matter  what  it  might  be.  Even 
railways  and  steamboats  received  a  proper  amount  of 
his  condemnation.  But  on  his  return  to  Osaka,  finding 
that  walking  was  altogether  too  slow,  he  at  last  took 
to  the  cars,  with  a  mental  somersault  that  our  Buddhist 
friends  are  ever  capable  of,  and  immediately  published 
a  newspaper  article  showing  that  there  was  no  doubt 
that  the  inventor  of  railroads  was  a  reincarnation  of 
one  of  the  disciples  of  Shaka.  Few  sermons  could  be 
more  grateful  to  a  Buddhist  protectionist  who  was 
walking  from  Otsu  to  Kobe  than  this."  Again  of  a 
speaker  who  freely  condemned  the  use  of  everything 
foreign,  Mr.  DeForest  wrote :  "  At  Otsu  one  of  his 
hearers,  a  butcher,  was  so  touched  that  he  went  home 
and  smashed  all  his  kerosene  lamps.  His  neighbour  in 
amazement  inquired  the  reason.  '  Foreign  things  ! ' 
ejaculated  the  patriotic  butcher.  '  JSTo,  you  must  be 
labouring  under  a  mistake ;  they  are  all  made  here,' 
was  the  reply.  The  butcher  gradually  bought  some 
more  Japanese  lamps." 

In  contrast  to  open  opposition  to,  or  sly  appropria- 
tion of,  Christian  truth,  there  was  an  occasional  Gama- 
liel to  say  as  of  old,  "  If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of 
men,  it  will  be  overthrown  ;  but  if  it  is  of  God,  ye  will 
not  be  able  to  overthrow  them."  Such  was  the  writer 
of  a  remarkable  editorial  that  appeared  in  September 
1881  in  the  JVichi  Nichi  Shimbun,  a  leading  Tokyo 
daily ;  a  part  of  this  editorial  Mr.  DeForest  translated 
as  follows  :  "  The  rise  or  decline  of  a  religion  lies  in  the 
existence  or  non-existence  of  truth  in  its  system,  and  it 
is  therefore  wholly  a  matter  inherent  in  itself.    It  can- 


80  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

not  be  increased  or  decreased,  expanded  or  contracted, 
by  any  human  power.  If  Buddhism  in  the  main  corre- 
sponds to  truth,  though  oppressed  for  a  time  by  the  for- 
eign religion,  in  the  end  it  will  shine  before  all  the  world. 
If  Christianity  contains  the  more  truth,  Buddhism  may 
contend  against  it  to  the  limit  of  power,  but  it  will  only 
hasten  the  time  of  its  own  overthrow."  In  consequence 
of  this  argument  the  writer  then  admonished  the  priests 
that  if  they  were  really  anxious  for  their  religion,  the 
way  to  maintain  it  was  not  by  blind  attacks  upon  their 
opponents,  but  by  the  improvement  of  their  own  vir- 
tues and  the  increase  of  their  knowledge  and  love  of 
truth,  whereby  they  might  gain  a  hearing  and  a  follow- 
ing. 

That  this  kind  of  appeal  was  voicing  a  spirit  already 
felt  in  Buddhist  circles  was  evident  from  the  account  of 
a  visit  that  Mr.  DeForest  was  permitted  to  make  to  a 
Buddhist  theological  school  in  Hikone  while  on  an 
evangelistic  trip  to  that  city.     Of  this  school  he  wrote  : 

"  There  are  now  about  seventy  pupils,  the  younger 
portion  of  whom  study  the  ordinary  branches  taught 
in  the  common  schools.  Such  a  course  must  reform 
radically  the  old  Buddhist  way  of  teaching  sacred  geog- 
raphy :  for  example,  a  priest  once  told  me  that  eighty 
thousand  miles  north  of  here  was  a  great  square  moun- 
tain, the  other  side  of  which  was  heaven.  Such  train- 
ing schools  as  they  now  have  here  and  there  in  Japan 
will  explode  that  old  heaven  of  theirs,  and  they  will 
have  to  locate  it  anew.  The  older  scholars,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  years  of  age,  study  the  sacred  books. 
I  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  admitted  to  one  reci- 
tation, which  in  its  method  was  quite  novel.  Five 
richly   robed   priests  sat  on  the  mats  on  one  side  of 


"  A  PKEACHING  MISSIONAEY  »  81 

the  hall  as  questioners ;  five  more  sat  on  the  opposite 
side  to  reply.  Each  questioner  confined  himself  to 
the  person  sitting  opposite ;  they  laboured  rather 
heavily,  both  sides  having  to  receive  constant  help 
from  the  chief  priest,  who  evidently  was  a  man  of 
considerable  power.  The  performance  struck  me  as 
one  ill-calculated  to  make  the  scholars  able  workers, 
when  contrasted  with  our  schools ;  but  it  is  a  great  step 
in  advance,  and  so  to  be  appreciated.  .  .  .  Another 
strange  mark  of  progress  is  the  fact  that  some  promi- 
nent Buddhist  priests  are  openly  preaching  and  teach- 
ing that  it  is  nonsense  to  worship  idols,  and  that  only 
the  lowest  classes,  those  of  densest  ignorance,  do  such  a 
foolish  thing.  The  two  priests  who  have  so  taught 
are  young  men  who  were  educated  in  Europe  on  pur- 
pose to  learn  Western  science  for  the  sake  of  strength- 
ening Buddhism  !  And  this  is  the  way  they  do  it. 
May  all  their  priests  speedily  acquire  this  same  en- 
lightenment !  What  in  the  world  can  come  out  of  a 
house  so  divided  against  itself  is  a  puzzle  to  me. 

"  Another  item  will  illustrate  the  changes  that  Bud- 
dhism is  undergoing.  I  found  a  book  in  Hikone  on '  The 
Cholera  :  How  to  Prevent  It.'  What  was  my  surprise 
on  learning  that  the  government  had  issued  it  especially 
for  Buddhist  priests,  sending  it  to  all  the  temples  with 
instructions  that  the  priests  should  preach  what  was  in 
this  book.  If  you  could  only  know  what  mountains  of 
nonsense  and  superstition  the  priests  taught  the  peo- 
ple last  year  during  the  cholera,  saying  that  this  three- 
cent  charm  or  that  ten-cent  idol  was  a  perfect  prevent- 
ive, until  at  last  the  native  papers  broke  out  upon 
them  with  tremendous  indignation  and  ridicule,  you 
would  see  what  a  great  step  in  advance  is  this  govern- 


82  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

merit  order  to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  cholera  prevent- 
ive. It  is  also  very  evident  where  Christianity  stands 
in  comparison  with  Buddhism  in  the  minds  of  the 
educated  classes,  since  the  same  papers  that  lashed  the 
covetous  and  ignorant  priests  told  them  to  go  and  learn 
of  the  Christians,  who  used  common  sense  in  such  mat- 
ters." 

The  corruption  and  ignorance  of  the  Buddhist  priest- 
hood was  so  deeply  impressed  upon  Mr.  DeForest  in 
those  days  that  he  never  afterwards  liked  to  use  the 
figure  of  priesthood  in  presenting  the  work  of  Christ. 
He  felt  that  such  presentation  would  give  his  hearers  a 
false  impression  and  a  natural  prejudice  against  Christ. 
That  noble-minded  Japanese  felt  the  same  is  illustrated 
by  a  conversation  that  he  had  with  a  student  who  was 
acting  one  summer  as  his  Japanese  teacher.  As  the 
two  were  sitting  one  day  at  the  foot  of  the  Mino  water- 
fall, Mr.  DeForest,  seeing  that  the  other  was  touched 
with  the  claims  of  Christianity,  expressed  the  hope  that 
he  would  become  a  Christian  and  a  preacher,  where- 
upon the  proud  samurai,  offended  at  the  thought  of 
ever  coming  to  resemble  what  he  detested  in  the  Bud- 
dhist priesthood,  flashed  back,  "  I  should  hate  to  be  a 
Jesus  priest ! "  He  did,  however,  become  a  minister, 
and  the  Rev.  T.  Koki  remained  through  life  an  earnest 
worker  for  the  Jesus  whose  priest  he  had  abhorred  to 
become. 

The  struggle  with  Buddhism,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
gaining  publicity  all  along  the  line.  Yet  not  only 
Buddhism,  which  was  strong,  but  also  Shintoism,  which 
was  weak  as  an  organization,  was  making  its  attempt 
to  stem  the  tide  of  oncoming  Christianity.  Previous 
to  a  theatre  meeting  in  Osaka,  at  which  Mr.  DeForest 


"  A  PBEACHING  MISSIONAEY  »  83 

among  others  was  advertised  to  speak,  "  the  Shinto  as- 
sociation sent  the  following  communication  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  South  District  Office :  '  We  have  noticed 
placards  in  various  places  calling  attention  to  a  Chris- 
tian meeting  in  Dotombori.  It  is  there  stated  that 
"  great  preaching  "  is  to  take  place,  and  we  observe  the 
names  of  several  Japanese  among  the  preachers.  For- 
eigners are  free  to  act  in  this  way,  but  as  regards  Japa- 
nese we  learn  that  the  notification  issued  by  the  De- 
partment of  Keligion  prohibited  all  natives  from  preach- 
ing without  their  obtaining  permission  from  the 
authorities.  We  think  the  matter  deserving  of  your  at- 
tention.' "  The  South  District  officials  replied,  how- 
ever, like  Gallio  of  old,  that  they  "  didn't  care  whether 
the  preachers  were  licensed  or  not,"  and  declined  to  in- 
terfere. 

In  those  days  when  Japan's  interest  in  Christianity 
was  rapidly  expanding,  theatre  preaching  was  one  of 
the  methods  used  to  meet  the  growing  opportunity. 
"  The  time  is  fully  come,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest,  "  for 
Christianity  to  give  the  reasons  for  its  invasion  of 
Japan.  Books  begin  to  appear — I  have  already  heard 
of  four — attacking  Christianity  with  all  the  old  reasons 
that  can  be  raised  from  the  dead.  The  apologetic  age 
is  begun  ;  no  other  topic  now  will  draw  the  multitudes 
together  in  Japan  like  discussions  on  Christianity.  The 
masses  are  appealed  to  as  judges,  and,  surprised  that 
they  are  of  so  much  importance,  they  gladly  accept 
the  honour.  That  in  such  a  crisis  such  an  able  body  of 
native  workers  should  providentially  be  in  connection 
with  our  mission,  is  a  matter  of  congratulation." 

The  account  of  the  Dotombori  theatre  meeting  shows 
how  some  of  these  Japanese  workers  as  well  as  the  mis- 


84  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

sionaries  were  trying  to  make  the  point  of  contact 
with  their  thronging  listeners.  It  is  all  in  a  letter  for 
American  Sunday  schools,  addressed  to  "  My  dear  Four 
Hundred  Thousand  Christian  Friends,"  which,  after 
telling  of  preliminary  obstacles  to  be  overcome  in  hir- 
ing the  theatre  and  advertising  the  meeting,  proceeds : 

"  Now  shall  I  tell  you  about  the  speakers  and  what 
they  said  ?  How  many  of  you  could  sit  through 
twenty  sermons  ?  I  almost  see  you  squirming  now, 
and  wondering  when  this  letter  will  end.  But  when 
such  splendid  fellows — myself  excepted — speak,  you 
can't  help  but  listen.  There  was  Neesima,  a  name 
widely  known  and  loved  in  America.  .  .  .  '  Why 
is  it,'  said  a  Christian  to  me  one  day,  *  why  is  it  that 
when  Neesima  speaks  we  are  always  affected  ? '  His 
name  is  already  a  tower  of  strength  in  Japan.  Sawa- 
yama  is  another  name  familiar  to  the  churches  in 
America.  We  almost  dreaded  to  have  him  speak,  for 
he  is  not  strong,  except  in  faith.  .  .  .  Dr.  Gordon 
was  another  speaker,  and  his  subject  was  Buddhism. 
He  has  studied  this  religion  and  found  some  very  queer 
errors.  That  a  foreigner  should  teach  them  the  his- 
toric facts  that  they  never  before  had  heard  of,  made 
one  of  the  most  entertaining  speeches  of  the  day. 
The  people  laughed  at  their  ignorance  ;  but  the  priests 
were  very  uncomfortable. 

"  Miyagawa,  a  teacher  of  the  Training  School,  was 
the  chairman  of  the  theatre  meeting  in  Kyoto,  and  his 
zeal  and  influence  so  enraged  the  haters  of  Christianity 
that  they  sent  him  an  anonymous  letter  accusing  him 
of  being  a  traitor  to  his  country  and  threatening  to 
kill  him.  This  is  the  first  instance  of  the  kind  here, 
as  far  as  I  know.    But  Miyagawa  is  not  easily  scared. 


"  A  PEEACHING  MISSIONARY  »  85 

In  the  middle  of  his  speech  he  thrilled  the  audience  by 
reading  the  letter.  '  This  calls  me  a  traitor,'  he  said. 
'  No,  I  love  my  country  and  desire  for  her  the  very 
highest  form  of  true  civilization.  I  want  all  that  is 
good  and  ennobling,  from  whatsoever  quarter,  to  be- 
come the  inheritance  of  Japan.  I,  a  traitor  ?  Bather 
he  who  would  violate  the  laws  of  our  land  by  exciting 
murder  like  this.' 

"  But  I  cannot  tell  you  a  tithe  of  the  good  things. 
The  speeches  went  on  and  on  till  well-nigh  midnight. 
When  my  name  was  called,  as  I  stepped  forward,  the 
chairman  whispered,  '  They  are  quite  tired  with  serious 
talking  ;  please  make  them  laugh  a  little  to  rest  them.' 
A  queer  request  indeed  to  make  of  a  sober  missionary  ! 
But  as  my  subject  was,  '  How  to  Eegulate  a  Family,' 
there  was  ample  room  for  cheerful  talk.  '  You  hardly 
know,'  said  I,  '  how  strange  it  seemed  to  me  when  I 
first  came  to  Japan,  to  see  your  family  customs.  When 
a  young  man  wants  a  wife,  he  has  her  come  to  his 
father's  home  to  be  his  slave  and  the  servant  of  his 
father  and  mother.  Your  celebrated  book  on  "  The 
Great  Learning  of  Woman  "  begins  with  this  sentence : 
"  A  bride  must  serve  her  father-in-law  and  her  mother- 
in-law."  Now  if  that  is  so,  the  poor  thing  has  three 
masters.  Eeally,  is  not  that  too  bad  ?  You  yourselves 
have  a  proverb  that  "  many  captains  wreck  the  ship." 
And  no  wonder  so  many  marriages  are  little  else  than 
wrecks  when  the  wife  has  to  live  at  the  bidding  of 
three  lords.  Now  long  before  Confucius'  day  our  re- 
ligion knew  the  cure  for  this  state  of  things.  In  the 
opening  verses  of  our  Bible  we  read  that  when  a  man 
takes  a  wife,  "  he  shall  leave  his  father  and  mother." 
Eeally,  I  never  thought  of  this  while  living  in  America, 


86  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

but  when  I  came  to  Japan  and  saw  how  you  do  it — I 
don't  mean  you  who  are  here  to-night,  for  that  would 
be  very  impolite,  but  I  guess  some  of  your  friends  do 
it — I  knew  then  the  wisdom  that  of  old  has  ordered 
that  fathers-in-law  and  mothers-in-law  shall  keep  out  of 
the  children's  families.  There  is  no  more  fruitful 
source  of  family  quarrels  and  unfaithfulness  than  is 
found  in  the  Confucian  doctrine — adopted  by  Bud- 
dhism— that  a  bride  is  the  servant  of  her  husband's 
parents.'  And  so  I  went  on,  ending  thus :  '  You 
have  a  land  filled  with  beautiful  scenery.  .  .  .  But 
remember  this  :  there  is  no  more  beautiful  sight  under 
all  the  wide  heavens  than  one  family  dwelling  under 
one  roof  in  love.'  .  .  .  The  next  day,  Sunday,  was 
a  thanksgiving  day  in  the  three  little  churches.  .  .  . 
How  the  priests  are  stirred  up !  But,  as  of  old,  the 
enemies  of  Christianity  are  doing  more  to  make  it 
known  than  all  the  believers  can  possibly  do." 

Not  all  theatre  preaching  was  as  undisturbed  as  that 
in  the  preceding  account ;  for  there  is  a  story  of  "  an 
invitation  to  preach  from  a  chief  of  gamblers  who  lives 
in  a  city  ten  miles  away.  He  is  a  huge  fellow,  evi- 
dently accustomed  to  lay  his  fist  heavily  on  any  one 
who  arouses  his  wrath,  and  he  looks  as  if  the  sum  total 
of  human  happiness  consisted  in  thrashing  a  fellow-be- 
ing. He  promised  to  fill  the  theatre  with  hearers  free 
of  cost  and  to  pay  our  hotel  bills  if  we  would  come. 
So  we  went,  and  the  house  was  crowded.  Our  great 
friend  sat  on  the  stage  with  us,  ready  to  show  his 
power  if  anybody  should  care  to  disturb  us.  Mr. 
Naruse  [later  founder  and  president  of  the  Woman's 
University  in  Tokyo]  had  not  proceeded  far  before  a 
few  persons  in  the  back  of  the  house  began  to  shout 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MISSION  AKY"  87 

their  dissent.  The  gambler  arose  and  impressively 
gestured  towards  them,  whereat  they  became  quiet  for 
a  few  moments  ;  but  soon  they  were  again  disturbing 
the  meeting.  This  was  too  much  for  our  defender  of 
the  faith  ;  striding  down  to  the  offenders,  with  a  jerki- 
ness  peculiar  to  the  Japanese  language  when  it  gets 
mad,  he  said  a  few  things  that  effectually  stopped  any 
further  opposition.  After  the  meeting  was  over  two 
priests  came  forward  and  requested  permission  to 
speak.  The  gambler  told  them  he  hadn't  called  the 
people  together  to  hear  Buddhist  priests,  but  Christian 
teachers ;  and  if  priests  had  anything  to  say,  let  them 
go  to  their  temples  and  say  it !  " 

Another  theatre  experience  of  interest  occurred  on  a 
trip  to  Tottori,  on  the  west  coast  of  Japan,  in  1880. 
A  Doshisha  student  from  Tottori  had  done  some  Chris- 
tian preaching  there  during  the  summer  vacation ;  and 
at  his  request  Mr.  DeForest  and  Mr.  Kajiro  of  the 
Osaka  Church  made  an  evangelistic  visit  to  the  place. 
The  account  of  this  visit  includes  so  many  side-lights 
on  the  nature  of  the  touring  work  of  those  days  that  I 
quote  from  it  quite  fully.  An  introductory  word,  how- 
ever, should  be  said  about  the  passport  system  that 
had  so  vital  a  connection  with  a  missionary's  travels. 
Under  the  extraterritorial  conditions  of  those  days,  the 
foreigners  in  Osaka  lived  on  the  Concession  as  an 
organized  community,  having  its  own  mayor,  police- 
man, and  fire-brigade  (memories  of  whose  helmets 
and  red  coats  still  thrill  the  heart  of  a  child  of  those 
days).  On  this  Concession,  no  passport  was  required 
for  residence  ;  but  a  travelling  passport  was  necessary 
if  one  was  to  spend  a  night  outside  of  the  treaty  ports. 
These  passports  were  granted  to  foreigners   through 


88  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

their  respective  legations  for  one  of  two  reasons — for 
purposes  of  "  science  "  or  of  "  health."  Some  mission- 
aries felt  that  they  could  not  conscientiously  use  such 
passports  for  evangelistic  work,  and  therefore  they 
confined  themselves  to  such  areas  as  did  not  require 
them.  Others,  among  them  Mr.  DeForest,  felt  that  as 
the  object  of  the  government  in  imposing  this  limita- 
tion was  to  restrict,  not  missionary  work,  but  com- 
merce, in  the  interior,  it  was  not  an  infringement  of 
the  spirit  of  the  passport  to  use  it  for  evangelistic 
travelling;  especially  as  the  authorities  themselves 
recognized  and  permitted  this  use  of  it.  Mr.  DeForest 
cites  an  instance  of  this  :  "  A  chief  of  police  once  gave 
orders  that  no  foreigner  should  be  allowed  to  preach 
in  his  jurisdiction,  on  the  ground  that  the  passport 
could  not  be  stretched  to  cover  preaching.  But  within 
twenty-four  hours  the  chief  was  compelled  by  a  far 
higher  authority  to  rescind  his  unwarrantable  order ; 
and  this  superior  command  was  accompanied  with  the 
statement  that  foreigners  might  speak  anywhere  in  the 
country  on  any  subject  whatever, — only  if,  in  speaking 
of  political  matters,  the  laws  were  violated,  the  local 
police  should  have  the  right  to  close  the  meeting." 

On  such  a  passport,  then,  Mr.  DeForest  and  his  com- 
panion took  the  three  days'  trip  to  Tottori  across  the 
backbone  of  Japan. 

"We  were  not  prepared  for  the  cool  reception  we 
met.  A  foreigner  had  been  seen  there  once  three 
years  before,  but  the  sight  of  one  is  so  rare  that  it  sets 
the  whole  town  in  commotion.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  foreigner  was  going  to  preach  the  Jesus  re- 
ligion, the  old  dread  of  that  forbidden  Way  fell  upon 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MISSIONARY"  89 

the  hotel-keepers,  and  with  one  accord  they  declined  to 
receive  me.  A  Christian,  however,  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing me  lodgings  at  a  private  house.  .  .  .  The  out- 
look was  discouraging:  no  arrangements  had  been 
made  for  preaching,  and  only  six  or  eight  persons 
cared  to  hear  the  Way.  I  told  Mr.  Kajiro  that  I  felt 
like  Jonah  and  wanted  to  run  away.  He,  laughing, 
pulled  out  a  letter  that  he  had  just  written  to  his  wife, 
and  showed  me  that  he  had  written  the  same  idea. 
But  on  reflecting  that  Jonah  did  not  better  himself 
very  much  by  his  flight,  we  determined  to  see  what 
could  be  done.  With  no  idea  of  what  the  morrow 
would  bring  forth  we  slept  that  Saturday  night,  and 
waked  up  to  spend  one  of  the  strangest  Sundays  I 
ever  saw. 

"Before  I  was  up,  an  officer  who  is  an  earnest 
student  of  the  Bible  sent  up  his  card.  Then  soon  Mr. 
Kajiro  found  an  old  friend  who  had  studied  three  years 
in  New  York  and  was  head  teacher  of  the  normal 
school.  Of  course  he  knew  Christianity,  had  Bible  and 
commentaries,  and  spoke  English  well ;  but  he  had 
never  given  himself  to  a  hearty  belief  in  Christ :  he 
was  drifting.  Then  five  or  six  others  gathered  to 
welcome  us  and  to  plan  for  work.  In  all  the  city 
there  was  no  fit  place  for  preaching ;  but  as  is  the  case 
with  all  the  castle  towns  of  Japan  so  far  as  I  have 
seen,  there  are  vast  harlot-quarters  and  large  theatres 
on  one  side  of  the  city.  '  Shall  we  go  to  the  theatres  ? ' 
was  the  only  question  left  us  to  consider.  The  young 
men  who  went  there  to  preach  during  the  summer 
would  not  go  to  such  a  place,  and  perhaps  they  were 
wise  in  their  action.  But  I  felt  that  some  of  the  places 
where  Jesus  and  Paul  preached  were  not  one  whit 


90  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

better  than  the  theatres  of  Tottori.  My  only  inquiry 
was, '  If  we  hire  a  theatre  will  the  better  class  of  people  go 
to  hear  ? '  They  assured  me  there  was  no  doubt  about 
it ;  there  would  be  a  good  audience  of  as  good  people  as 
the  city  held.  So  it  was  determined  to  hire  the  theatre 
that  day  and  to  advertise  three  days'  preaching  by  an 
American.  Some  went  to  prepare  the  theatre,  some 
wrote  and  caused  to  be  put  up  through  the  city  about 
forty  placards,  and  the  necessary  notice  was  sent  to 
the  police  station.  The  head  school-teacher  cheerfully 
promised  to  make  the  opening  speech  introducing 
Kajiro  and  myself.  Shortly  after  that,  what  was  my 
surprise  to  hear  wooden  clappers  rattling  away  in  front 
of  my  house,  and  to  see  a  clownishly  dressed  fellow 
shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  '  Preaching  to-night ! 
Religion  of  Jesus  !  By  an  American !  Seats  free  at 
the  theatre  ! '  I  was  told  that  the  owner  of  the  theatre 
always  sent  out  such  a  notice ;  so  that,  with  the  forty 
placards  and  the  exertions  of  this  clapper-clown,  the 
twenty  thousand  people  of  Tottori  became  pretty  well 
aware  of  the  new  movement  in  a  very  short  space  of 
time. 

"  Evening  came,  and  the  head  teacher  called  for  us 
with  his  wife  and  two  little  ones — just  such  a  lady  as 
could  do  a  glorious  work  were  she  a  Christian.  On 
entering  the  theatre,  we  found  about  one  hundred 
gathered,  but  as  soon  as  it  became  known  that  the 
American  was  really  behind  the  scenes,  the  house 
filled  rapidly  until  there  was  not  a  foot  of  standing- 
room  left.  Six  hundred  is  the  ordinary  capacity  of 
this  theatre,  but  pressure  steadily  applied  swelled  that 
number  by  one  or  two  hundred  more.  Our  introduction 
was  fair,  the  speaker  saying  that  Christianity  is  divided 


"  A  PREACHING  MISSIONARY  "  91 

into  three  great  branches :  Roman  and  Greek  Catholic, 
and  Protestant ;  that  Kajiro  and  myself  are  Prot- 
estants, and  that  where  the  Protestant  custom  prevails, 
there  the  greatest  prosperity  is  found ;  while  he  loved 
the  Christian  civilization,  he  personally  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian and  was  not  advocating  Christianity,  but  only  in- 
troducing the  advocates  of  it.  With  this,  Kajiro  went 
forward  and  told  how  Japan  was  awakening  under  the 
quickening  influences  of  this  new  Way ;  that  it  was  noth- 
ing to  fear  ;  rather,  through  this  religion,  Japan  would 
gain  the  greatest  possible  prosperity  and  blessing.  Then 
I  spoke  nearly  an  hour.  The  Japanese  believe  in  pro- 
tracted meetings  :  one  speaker  in  an  evening  is  not 
half  enough,  and  the  last  speaker's  position  is  the  place 
of  honour.  How  such  an  audience  feels  when  a  for- 
eigner comes  before  it  I  do  not  know.  Evidently  they 
had  no  idea  the  speaker  could  make  himself  understood. 
But  when  one  after  another  began  to  say  in  a  suppressed 
voice,  '  Really,  we  can  understand,'  the  desire  to  hear 
increased  and  the  crowd  that  could  not  get  in  increased, 
until  the  outsiders  burst  through  one  or  two  weak 
places  in  the  sides  of  the  poorly  built  theatre.  But  as 
taught  in  natural  philosophy,  the  pressure  from  within 
outwards  being  equal  to  the  pressure  from  without 
inwards,  nothing  of  benefit  resulted  to  those  without. 
One  thing  was  clearly  seen  by  the  little  band  of  Chris- 
tians who  had  the  matter  in  charge  :  that  that  theatre 
was  too  small.  So  they  gave  that  up  and  rented  for 
the  next  night  the  largest  theatre  in  all  that  region — 
one  that  would  hold,  under  pressure,  twelve  hundred. 

"The  next  day  Kajiro  and  I  were  busy  without 
cessation  with  those  who  came  to  congratulate  us,  to 
inquire  more  about  the  Way,  and  to  invite  us  to  a  feast. 


92  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

Among  our  callers  were  the  preacher  of  the  Greek 
religion,  who  is  trying  to  gather  a  church  here,  and 
several  of  his  followers  not  yet  baptized.  As  their 
respectful  manner  and  kindness  brought  us  into  close 
relations  with  them,  we  discussed  in  the  most  friendly 
way  the  differences  in  our  beliefs,  and  I  urged  that 
since  we  both  felt  called  to  work  in  Tottori,  there 
should  be  no  unpleasant  feelings ;  and  that  since  several 
were  in  doubt  as  to  which  to  join,  we  should  unite  our 
efforts  in  public  to  convince  everybody  that  we  cared 
more  for  Christian  love  than  we  did  for  any  church 
creed.  In  short,  I  urged  the  Greek  preacher  to  speak 
at  the  theatre  with  Kajiro  and  myself.  He  readily 
accepted,  and  that  night  we  three  attempted  to  teach 
the  largest  and  most  uncontrollable  crowd  I  have  yet 
seen  in  Japan.  The  theatre  filled  up  to  its  edges,  over- 
flowed on  to  the  speaker's  platform,  and  crowded  into 
the  actors'  room  where  we  were  waiting ;  before  we 
could  commence,  the  place  bid  fair  to  be  the  scene  of 
an  uproar  for  which  the  new  religion  was  likely  to  be 
called  in  question.  Hoping  to  quiet  the  audience, 
Kajiro  stepped  forward  and  beckoned  with  his  hand, 
and  began  the  first  speech.  But  not  only  was  the  press 
too  great,  but  several  fellows  of  the  baser  sort  were 
evidently  aching  to  cause  an  outbreak.  Kajiro  made  a 
brave  and  prolonged  stand,  but  was  repeatedly  inter- 
rupted by  fellows  within  and  by  the  hundreds  without 
who  couldn't  get  in.  When  he  came  back  into  the 
actors'  room,  it  was  plain  that  he  was  seriously  anxious. 
We  sent  for  police,  but  several  said  there  were  not 
police  enough  in  Tottori  to  control  that  crowd.  Mean- 
while the  Greek  stepped  forward,  and  he  being  of 
commanding  appearance  and  a  new  face  to  them,  they 


1 1 A  PEE  ACHING  MISSION  AEY ' '  93 

quieted  down  for  a  few  moments ;  but  when  he  tried 
to  explain  the  '  narrow  gate,'  they  refused  to  listen ;  the 
interruptions  grew  more  decided,  local  disturbances 
took  place,  and  at  last,  insulted,  he  was  forced  to  retire. 
"  It  was  now  my  turn.  Some  of  my  friends  thought 
I  ought  not  to  adventure  myself  into  the  theatre  before 
them  ;  others,  that  I  should  step  forward  and  dismiss 
them  with  a  brief  remark  or  two.  A  large  part  of  the 
audience  was  yet  in  good  order,  and  I  felt  sure  no 
insult  was  intended  towards  me.  There  was  not  the 
slightest  fear  of  personal  harm — only  that  the  evil- 
minded  fellows  would  force  a  free  fight  then  and  there, 
for  which  the  preaching  of  the  Jesus  religion  would  be 
naturally  held  responsible.  So  I  stepped  out  before  them. 
The  better  portion,  perhaps  over  half  the  people,  im- 
mediately became  quiet,  but  there  were  no  signs  of 
yielding  in  other  parts  of  the  house.  At  last  I  shouted 
out  that  in  America  the  Japanese  had  the  reputation 
of  being  the  politest  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
but  if  they  didn't  stop  this  uproar  and  be  quiet,  there 
was  one  American  who  would  never  say  that  the  Tot- 
tori-ites  were  polite.  This  being  applauded  by  the  few 
hundreds  who  could  hear,  the  rest  suddenly  wanted  to 
hear  too.  One  or  two  hundred  who  couldn't  hear  me 
still  kept  up  a  disturbance,  whereupon  I  shouted  to 
them  that  if  their  desire  was  to  see  the  foreigner,  pro- 
vided they  would  only  content  themselves  for  a  few 
moments  with  hearing  me,  I'd  wait  till  midnight  to 
show  them  my  face.  This  provoked  general  applause  ; 
and  after  that,  though  some  made  slight  interruptions, 
there  was  excellent  attention  given  by  over  a  thousand 
of  them  for  nearly  an  hour,  while  I  opened  up  the  folly 
of  worshipping  dried  wood  and  ridiculed  the  absurd 


94  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

customs  that  inevitably  arise  from  idolatry.  I  was 
compelled  to  keep  a-going,  as  any  pause  would  have 
been  only  an  opportunity  for  an  outbreak.  They  met 
my  statements  of  what  I  had  seen  in  Japan  with  sur- 
prise that  I  had  found  out  so  much  and  with  repeated 
applause,  until  I  turned  to  the  inevitable  injury  that 
idolaters  everywhere  and  universally  must  receive,  in- 
tellectually and  socially.  At  last,  upon  my  appealing 
to  the  ambition  all  true  Japanese  have  to  take  their 
place  among  the  foremost  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
assuring  them  that  such  stultification  and  licentiousness 
as  came  from  idolatry  would  prevent  their  sure  advance 
into  true  civilization,  their  applause  gave  way  to  a 
serious  thoughtfulness,  and  the  boisterous  audience 
became  like  a  good  old-fashioned  church  in  America 
on  Sunday.  It  was  no  little  relief  by  this  time  to  see 
a  policeman  here  and  there  in  the  audience  ;  and  when 
we  dismisssd  the  people  they  for  the  most  part  quietly 
withdrew.  But  fearing  the  crowd  would  become  even 
worse  on  the  next  night,  we  called  on  our  way  home  at 
the  central  office,  thanked  them  for  their  assistance, 
and  asked  for  police  in  abundance  for  the  next  night. 
Then  we  prayed  for  rain,  or  any  obstacle  that  would 
prevent  such  a  gathering  again. 

"  Again  and  again  the  following  day  we  congratu- 
lated ourselves  on  the  snow  and  hail  and  rain  that 
came  fitfully  all  day  ;  just  about  the  time  for  gather- 
ing, it  was  all  we  could  desire.  We  felt  sure  that  noth- 
ing but  a  true  interest  would  bring  out  hearers.  But 
the  whole  city  was  agitated  and  the  theatre  quickly 
filled.  The  head  teacher,  who  was  now  very  much  in- 
terested, made  the  first  address,  telling  how  deeply  he 
felt  over  last  night's  speeches.     .     .     .    With  such  an 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MISSION  AKY"  95 

earnest  opening,  my  confidence  was  entirely  restored. 
But  some  in  the  audience  grew  restless,  began  inter- 
ruptions, grew  worse  and  more  insulting  than  the  pre- 
vious night,  and  actually  broke  the  speaker  down,  forc- 
ing him  to  retire  in  anger  and  disgust.  The  police  had 
no  authority,  or  else  would  not  show  it.  There  was 
little  hope  left  for  any  successful  talking  ;  but  Kajiro 
went  forward,  and  after  repeatedly  trying  to  catch  at- 
tention he  quieted  the  larger  portion.  He  then  poured 
out  an  unbroken  stream  of  wit  and  truth,  until  he  had 
his  audience  at  will ;  then,  bearing  more  directly  on  the 
great  aim  of  our  work,  he  had  the  closest  attention  for 
an  hour,  the  people  forgetting  that  there  was  a  for- 
eigner behind  the  curtains  ;  and  the  foreigner,  listen- 
ing with  delight,  forgot  that  his  turn  was  next.  .  .  . 
My  sermon  was  well  received,  as  I  urged  them  to  com- 
pare the  commands  of  Christianity  with  those  of  Bud- 
dhism ;  but  it  was  very  evident  that  Kajiro  had  done 
more  than  the  rest  of  us  put  together. 

"  Well,  what  did  it  amount  to  ?  For  one  thing,  it 
is  evident  that  this  nation  is  ripe  for  throwing  away 
idolatry.  .  .  .  Another  thing  is  that  public  opinion 
is  being  shaped  rapidly  in  favour  of  Christianity. 
.  .  .  Yet  best  of  all :  the  day  after  our  three  nights' 
course  we  intended  to  return ;  but  so  urgent  were  the 
requests  for  us  to  stop  one  more  day  that  we  remained 
over  and  met  nine  men  who  with  their  families  and 
friends  wished  to  form  a  company  to  study  the  Bible 
every  Sunday  evening.  Kajiro  with  great  tact  made  a 
little  Book  of  Life,  in  wrhich  their  names  were  written 
and  in  which  they  pledged  themselves  to  begin  im- 
mediately the  searching  of  the  Scriptures.  They  drew 
lots  to  determine  at  whose  house  the  first  meeting 


96  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

should  be  held.  Then  Kajiro,  calling  on  them  to  thank 
God  for  His  great  love  in  leading  them  to  the  light  of 
His  Gospel,  prayed  from  his  full  heart  before  those 
first-fruits.  The  head  teacher  was  there,  promising  to 
work  with  and  for  this  little  band.  His  wife  is  full  of 
joy,  and  is  one  of  the  '  honourable  women '  who  see  the 
worth  and  need  of  Christianity  from  its  first  presenta- 
tion. She  became  a  Christian  on  the  spot.  I  spent  an 
hour  with  him  on  the  reasonableness  and  need  of  daily 
prayer.  In  the  evening  Kajiro  slipped  out,  leaving  me 
to  talk  to  the  endless  string  of  visitors.  When  he  came 
back  I  was  alone  ;  the  look  of  pleasure  on  his  face  was 
too  apparent.  '  We've  just  had  the  first  family  prayers 
in  this  city, — father,  wife,  mother,  and  two  sons  unit- 
ing in  it,  and  thanking  me  for  teaching  them  how  to 
pray.'  With  that,  our  cup  was  full.  Weary  with  the 
exciting  and  ceaseless  work,  we  kneeled  for  our  last 
evening  prayer,  thanking  God  for  all  His  loving  lead- 
ing." 

The  subjects  that  Mr.  DeForest  chose  in  his  preach- 
ing were  largely  determined  by  the  types  of  his  au- 
diences. So  much  of  his  work  was  touring  in  new  or 
recently  opened  fields  that  his  lines  of  thought  were 
distinctly  those  of  apologetics — effective  introduction 
of  his  hearers  to  what  was  often  their  first  knowledge 
of  the  religion  against  which  they  had  heard  much.  A 
tour  to  Ise,  the  land  of  the  imperial  shrine  of  the  Sun- 
goddess,  visited  annually  by  tens  of  thousands  of  pil- 
grims, illustrates  the  way  he  came  into  contact  with 
various  classes  of  people.  To  one  small  audience  con- 
taining a  number  of  priests,  he  spoke  of  "  the  three 
great  men  Asia  had  produced— Confucius,  Shaka  and 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MISSIONARY"  97 

Jesus.  They  seemed  surprised  that  a  foreigner  should 
know  anything  about  Confucianism  and  Buddhism.  But 
when  they  heard  that  Jesus  was  an  Asiatic  like  them- 
selves, and  if  they  did  not  know  as  much  of  Jesus  as  they 
did  of  Shaka,  they  could  not  be  said  to  have  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  great  men  of  even  their  own  race, 
they  were  amazed.  The  vast  majority  supposed  thought- 
lessly that  Jesus  was  an  American  or  an  Englishman." 

To  a  mixed  general  audience  in  a  theatre,  he  preached 
on  "  What  is  Man  ?  "  giving  the  answer  of  Christianity 
with  reference  especially  to  the  body,  which  should  be 
kept  pure  and  holy  as  made  by  the  God  who  gave  it : 
this  was  his  way  of  approach  to  speaking  against  preva- 
lent vices.  "  I  am  a  foreigner  and  it  is  none  of  my  busi- 
ness, you  think,"  he  said  in  closing.  "Yes,  but  the 
same  God  made  you  and  me,  and  we  are  brothers.  I 
have  left  my  land  to  live  here  and  to  die  here ;  my 
children  too  are  growing  up  in  Japan.  I  am  virtually 
a  Japanese.  And  when  I  see  the  shame  that  covers 
this  land,  I  want  to  call  to  you,  my  brothers,  to  look 
about  you  and  see  if  you  cannot  hasten  to  cure  this 
deadly  evil.  God  and  God  alone  made  your  bodies. 
Glorify  Him  in  your  use  of  them." 

In  a  schoolhouse  on  the  same  trip,  when  asked  to 
speak,  he  took  occasion  to  show  how  true  religion  was 
not  opposed  to  reason,  but  that  as  nations  accepted  and 
obeyed  Christianity,  science  and  law  came  to  occupy  a 
prominence  never  otherwise  attained.  He  pointed  out 
that  it  was  from  Christian  countries  that  the  Japanese 
government  had  secured  teachers  for  its  new  science 
and  law  schools.  "  Do  you  suppose,"  he  added,  "  that 
among  these  scholars  right  before  you  studying  as- 
tronomy, twenty  years  from  now  there  will  be  one 


98  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

worshipper  of  the  sun  ?  If  there  be,  you  might  well 
put  him  in  a  box,  and  exhibit  him  as  a  show  for  two 
cash  a  head.  What  is  the  sun  ?  It  is  a  huge  lantern 
that  God  has  hung  up  there  for  His  children  on  earth. 
And  for  a  man,  endowed  with  the  power  of  thought 
and  speech,  with  free-will,  placed  by  God  at  the  head 
of  the  visible  creation,  to  worship  a  lantern  that  has  no 
brains  nor  tongue  nor  eyes,  that  has  no  free-will — what 
possible  gain  can  there  be  ?  " 

This  type  of  preaching  cleared  the  ground  for  direct 
Gospel  work :  it  opened  the  eyes  of  hearers  and  led 
them  to  look  at  the  new  religion  from  a  different  stand- 
point ;  it  removed  prejudice  against  Christianity  and 
aroused  questioning,  that  hopeful  sign  of  a  mind  grop- 
ing after  truth.  The  direct  results  in  immediate  res- 
olution and  reform  were  too  numerous  for  detailed 
mention  here.  In  general,  however,  the  last  meeting 
and  the  results  of  this  Ise  trip  may  be  taken  as  typical : 

"  [After  the  preaching  service]  we  invited  to  the 
hotel  that  night  any  who  might  wish  to  make  inquiry 
about  this  Way.  Fifteen  of  as  bright,  thoughtful  men 
as  I  have  ever  met  here  came.  One,  a  young  man, 
with  unusual  modesty  said  he  had  heard  the  preaching, 
and,  while  wondering,  he  could  not  help  having  doubts. 
Could  we  tell  him,  *  What  is  this  power  in  man  that 
enables  him  to  conquer  ?  What  is  the  soul  ?  What  is 
the  ruin  of  the  soul  ?  Can  a  man  love  his  enemies  out- 
side of  Christianity  ?  Is  love  natural  to  man,  or  is  it 
acquired  only  in  Christianity  ? '  With  such  questions 
he  made  me  wonder.  After  they  had  all  gone,  I  asked 
who  he  was.  '  He  is  the  mayor  of  the  city,'  was  the 
reply. — But  the  mail  closes  soon,  and  this  story  must 
come  to  an  end.     I  wonder  what  Paul  would  have  done 


"  A  PEE  ACHING  MISSIONARY  "  99 

if  in  the  middle  of  the  letter  to  the  Eomans  he  had 
been  told  that  the  mail  would  close  immediately.  I 
can  only  add  that  we  preached  twenty-two  times  in  six 
days  ;  that  in  three  of  the  places  no  foreigner  had  ever 
before  been  seen ;  that  in  four  centres  there  were  already 
before  my  going  and  as  the  result  of  the  young  man 
sent  out  by  the  Osaka  churches,  little  bands  of  Bible 
students  who  had  read  together  nearly  all  of  Matthew ; 
that  these  four  bands  number  about  thirty  who  have 
formed  the  '  Christ's  Ever-Persevering  Company '  and 
have  engaged  Hattori  to  stay  with  them  ;  that  over 
two  hundred  books  were  sold  and  many  others  ordered  ; 
that  some  gave  up  their  concubines,  and  some  husbands 
and  wives  were  reconciled ;  that  we  had  several  hours' 
talk  with  a  priest  in  lineal  descent  from  the  great  Sun- 
goddess,  and  who  has  been  in  secret  a  student  of  the 
Bible  for  a  year ;  that  we  had  several  hours  also  with 
one  of  the  teachers  of  the  Shinto  school,  who  also  has 
the  Scriptures  in  his  closet. — To  God,  only  wise,  be 
glory  through  Jesus  Christ  forever.     Amen." 

Another  quotation  will  illustrate  the  kind  of  questions 
that  a  missionary  met  when  visiting,  not  new  hearers 
and  inquirers,  but  a  small  and  isolated  group  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  interior.  "  As  always  and  everywhere  in 
Japan,  [so  here  at  Hikone]  the  Christians  gave  me  a 
very  pleasant  welcome ;  they  arranged  to  guide  me  to 
all  the  interesting  places  and  to  pay  my  hotel  fare.  We 
held  three  meetings,  always  prolonged  by  their  asking 
question  after  question  that  to  them  had  a  very  prac- 
tical bearing,  such  as :  *  On  the  third  year  after  my 
father's  death,  shall  I  have  a  feast  in  memory  of  him  ? ' 
6  How  do  you  show  honour  towards  the  dead  ?  '  *  Ought 
we  to  give  to  the  missionary  society  such  money  as  we 


100  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

used  to  squander  in  wine  and  feasting  ? '  '  Shall  we 
admit  to  the  communion  those  who  are  seeking  for 
baptism  ?  Not  doing  so,  for  us  to  eat  and  drink  in 
their  presence,  is  it  not  impolite  ? '  *  Shall  we  celebrate 
the  Lord's  Supper  with  sponge  cake  as  usual,  or  did 
you  bring  some  bread  for  that  purpose  ? '  There  is 
nothing  I  enjoy  in  my  work  so  much  as  the  sociables  at 
the  end  of  the  preaching ;  I  there  learn  much  about 
those  around  me,  and  again  and  again  get  my  next 
sermon  from  some  things  they  innocently  confess  to,  or 
from  their  inquiries." 

Some  of  these  questions,  real  in  their  day,  have  now 
passed  into  history :  the  increasing  prevalence  of 
bakeries,  for  instance,  has  largely  eliminated  the  bread 
problem.  The  question  of  honour  to  the  dead  and  of 
the  Christian's  relation  to  memorial  ceremonies  for 
deceased  Buddhist  relatives  is  still  a  live  one  to  many  a 
loving  heart.  But  in  those  clays  the  question  had  a 
different  aspect ;  for  the  legal  right  to  conduct  burial 
services  was  in  the  hands  of  the  priests  of  the  native 
religions,  and  a  Christian,  if  not  enrolled  in  one  of 
their  parishes,  had  no  claim  to  even  a  burying-place. 
Among  Mr.  DeForest's  papers  is  a  clipping  dated  1881 
from  the  Japan  Herald,  illustrating  the  inconvenience 
to  which  Christians  were  subjected :  "  A  native  Christian 
at  Iwaki  was  charged  with  having,  contrary  to  the  law, 
buried  one  of  his  children  with  Christian  rites — the 
priest  of  the  Buddhist  temple  being  the  informant. 
The  following  judgment  was  given  in  the  Fukuoka 
Saibansho  [court] :  — The  culprit,  an  adherent  of  Chris- 
tianity, having  buried  his  child  after  the  Christian 
manner  without  resorting  to  the  assistance  of  a  priest, 
is  sentenced   to  forty  days'  imprisonment  with  hard 


"A  PEE  ACHING  MIISSONAKY"  101 

labour ;  but  considering  the  circumstances,  the  sentence 
will  be  commuted  to  a  fine  of  three  yen.  The  cross  (on 
the  grave)  is  to  be  removed,  and  the  funeral  rites  will 
be  again  performed  according  to  the  ceremony  of  the 
established  religion."  However,  as  in  1876  the  legaliz- 
ing of  the  Sunday  holiday  had  been  a  great  blessing  to 
the  young  church,  so  in  1884  the  official  disestablish- 
ment of  the  state  priesthood  {Kyoddshoku)  became  the 
earnest  of  complete  religious  liberty  to  come.  The 
priests,  having  no  longer  the  authority  of  government 
officials,  could  not  enforce  legal  claims ;  thus,  as  a 
natural  outcome  of  the  disestablishment,  it  was  shortly 
followed  by  an  edict,  to  quote  from  a  letter  of  Mr, 
DeForest's,  "  that  burial  rites,  which  the  law  heretofore 
gave  into  the  hands  of  the  priests,  could  henceforth 
take  place  with  or  without  a  priest,  the  only  legal  re- 
quirement being  a  notification  of  the  death  at  the 
nearest  local  government  office.  You  can  hardly 
imagine  the  unendurableness  of  seeing  one's  parent  or 
friend  buried  with  the  rites  of  a  rejected  idolatry.  And 
when  I  told  the  news  to  one  of  the  Ise  Christians,  tears 
of  joy  filled  his  eyes,  and  bowing  his  head  to  the  floor, 
he  was  speechless  in  his  gratitude." 

Of  all  the  subjects  of  Mr.  DeForest's  preaching  in 
those  days,  the  deepest  impressions  seem  to  have  been 
made  by  his  sermons  on  the  Ten  Commandments, 
alluded  to  in  the  opening  letter  of  this  chapter.  So 
profoundly  did  the  idolatrous  and  vicious  elements  in 
his  Japanese  surroundings  impress  him,  that  he  felt  he 
could  not  preach  a  Saviour  from  sin  until  the  moral 
sense  of  his  hearers  was  quickened  to  perceive  sin  and 
the  need  of  a  Saviour  from  its  power.  Thus  came  his 
John-the-Baptist  type  of  preaching,  with  its  call  to  a 


102  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

generation  of  vipers  to  repent.  One  source  of  his  in- 
formation about  the  superstitions  that  he  held  up  in 
the  lime-light  was  a  study  of  the  ema,  "votive  pic- 
tures," that  hang  in  large  numbers  on  the  walls  of 
many  a  shrine  and  ema-shed  throughout  Japan.  The 
study  of  these  pictures  and  their  significance — sins  re- 
pented of  and  prayers  for  help,  vows  of  reform,  thanks- 
giving for  favours — seemed  to  show  him,  not  so  much 
the  religious  aspirations,  as  the  depths  of  degradation, 
from  which  they  sprang.  "The  offerer,"  he  wrote 
with  reference  to  one  class  of  ema,  "  has  asked  the  gods 
to  save  him  henceforth  from  wine  and  women.  .  .  . 
Here  is  a  land  where  it  is  the  custom  to  hang  up  in  the 
most  public  places  these  confessions  of  shame  and  these 
prayers  of  repentance.  Without  doubt  a  few  more 
years  of  advance  into  the  manners  of  civilization  will 
find  every  one  of  these  ema  forbidden ;  and  the  class  is 
by  no  means  small." 

A  fellow-worker  in  Osaka,  Kev.  W.  W.  Curtis,  gives 
the  following  contemporary  account  of  one  of  Mr.  De- 
Forest's  series  of  addresses  on  the  Ten  Command- 
ments :  "  The  lectures  were  well  announced  by  the 
Christians,  and  notice  of  them  soon  got  into  the  papers 
and  attracted  attention  all  over  the  city.  .  .  .  His 
method  of  contrasting  religions  by  their  natural,  legiti- 
mate fruits  has  been  very  attractive  ;  and  although  he 
has  not  hesitated  to  hold  up  the  sins  and  vices  and 
follies  of  heathenism  in  strong  light,  he  has  not  failed 
while  doing  so  to  keep  the  good  will  of  his  audience. 
For  instance,  his  last  lecture  was  upon  '  Lying,'  and  he 
made  the  point  that  as  a  rule  worshippers  of  idols 
are  untruthful,  calling  that  which  cannot  be  a  god 
— wood,   stone,  the  sun,  the  moon,  etc. — their  god ; 


"A  PEEACHING  MISSION  AEY"  103 

false  in  this,  they  will  be  false  in  other  things.  It  was 
pretty  hard  doctrine  for  many  of  his  hearers,  but  when 
he  began  to  illustrate  by  the  habits  of  speech  of  all 
classes — common  labourers,  merchants,  physicians, 
officials,  coolies,  townspeople,  samurai — the  fact  was  so 
apparent  and  the  illustrations  so  pat  that  they  had  to 
laugh  again  and  again.  When  he  told  them  that  the 
Christian  teacher  could  not  be  polite  to  his  audience  at 
the  expense  of  truthfulness,  that  he  must  speak  straight- 
forwardly even  though  it  be  unpleasant  to  do  so,  they 
were  very  much  impressed." 

The  sermons  on  the  Ten  Commandments,  put  into 
attractive  literary  form  by  a  talented  secretar}^,  were 
published  as  tracts  under  such  taking  titles  as,  "  The 
Evils  of  Worshipping  Dried  Wood," — this  one  had  the 
remarkable  run  of  fifty  thousand  copies — "  The  Great 
Learning  of  Parents  and  Children,"  "Medicine  for 
Thieves,"  and  "  The  Funeral  of  the  Seven  Gods  of 
Good  Luck," — this  last  being  on  the  tenth  command- 
ment, which,  in  abolishing  the  covetous  spirit,  will,  it 
is  argued,  abolish  also  the  gods  whose  worship  springs 
from  that  spirit.  These  booklets  had  a  wide  sale, 
arousing  comment  pro  and  con.  Some  incidents  of 
their  sale  came  under  the  observation  of  their  writer 
himself,  as  he  relates : 

"  I  was  on  my  way  to  Ise  with  Nakai,  the  champion 
book-seller  of  Japan.  We  stopped  for  a  night  at  Hase, 
a  city  of  no  mean  reputation,  since  the  marvellous  god 
(or  goddess)  Kwannon  has  one  of  his  thirty-three 
temples  there — a  fat  place  for  many  sleek  priests.  We 
wandered  through  the  long  halls,  and  wondered  at  the 
golden  painted  dragons  and  the  pictures  of  ancient 
heroes  in  battle.     Then  buying  a  delicate  image  of  the 


104  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

god  of  doubtful  gender,  we  went  to  the  hotel,  took 
our  rice  and  tea,  and  I,  being  tired  with  the  journey, 
immediately  went  to  bed.  Just  as  I  was  getting  un- 
conscious of  my  surroundings,  and  Kwannon  and  the 
true  God,  fierce  dragons  and  my  wife,  were  strangely 
intermingled  in  my  dreams,  I  was  aroused  by  an 
apology  from  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  priests,  saying 
to  Nakai,  '  I  just  heard  that  the  teacher  of  the  Jesus 
Way  was  stopping  here  for  the  night,  and  that  you 
had  books  to  sell.  So,  fearing  that  you  would  get 
away  in  the  morning  before  I  could  see  you,  I  have 
intruded.  Pardon  me,  I  pray  you  ;  if  I  am  disturbing 
the  honourable  sleeper  [on  the  mats  in  the  same  room], 
I  will  retire  at  once.'  He  was  assured  by  Nakai  that 
he  could  talk  without  disturbing  me ;  whereupon  he 
asked  for  the  books.  These  being  spread  out  before 
him,  he  immediately  selected  some  of  mine  on  the 
Commandments,  and  asked  the  price.  Nakai  told  him 
they  came  in  sets  that  could  not  be  broken,  to  which 
he  replied :  '  But  I  already  have  four  of  them ;  they 
were  sent  to  me  by  a  friend  in  Osaka.  As  these  will 
complete  my  set,  I  pray  you  sell  me  these  only.'  '  I 
am  sorry  for  you,'  was  the  reply,  4  but  I  can't  break  a 
set.  You  have  many  friends  who  have  never  seen 
these  books.  Hadn't  you  better  buy  a  complete  set  ? 
— and  then  you  can  give  away  your  duplicates.'  This 
the  priest  immediately  agreed  to  do,  and  then  went  on 
to  say,  *  Where  does  the  author  of  these  books  live  ? 
I  want  very  much  to  meet  him.  He  has  made  some 
statements  in  here  that  show  him  to  be  misinformed 
on  some  things.  Would  he  resent  it  if  I  were  to  call 
on  him  when  I  go  to  th j  city  ? '  '  Oh,  no,  he  lives  at 
No.  26,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  you  at  any  time,'  re- 


"  A  PREACHING  MISSIONARY  "  105 

plied  Nakai.  I  wanted  to  arise  and  tell  him  he  needn't 
go  to  Osaka  to  meet  me,  and  that  I  should  be  glad 
then  and  there  to  be  corrected  in  any  respect ;  but  the 
thought  of  five  successive  nights  of  preaching  close 
ahead,  and  the  necessity  of  storing  up  all  the  strength 
I  could  for  the  campaign,  made  me  keep  quiet.  Then 
with  profound  salutations  the  priest  withdrew,  and 
Xakai  crawled  under  the  comfortables  that  had  been 
spread  for  his  bed. 

"  Again  I  was  fairly  asleep,  when  another  voice  of 
apology  roused  us.  Lying  perfectly  quiet  as  before,  I 
let  Nakai  meet  the  visitors  while  I  listened  to  the  con- 
versation. '  I  just  now  heard  from  my  friend,'  said 
another  priest,  '  that  you  were  here  with  books  to  sell ; 
and  though  it  is  very  rude  to  arouse  you,  I  beg  you  to 
pardon  my  late  coming.  Will  you  kindly  sell  me  a  set 
of  books  on  the  Commandments  ?  '  While  Nakai  was 
getting  them  out,  the  priest  went  on  to  say,  '  I  have 
read  some  of  these  books  before,  and  should  like  very 
much  to  meet  the  author.  I  hear  he  lives  in  Osaka. 
Do  you  think  he  would  mind  if  I  were  to  call  on  him  ? 
I  should  like  to  discuss  just  a  bit  some  of  the  statements 
of  his  books.  He  seems  to  be  rather  at  fault  in  some 
minor  points.'  '  Oh,  call  by  all  means,'  said  Nakai ; 
'  he'll  be  very  glad  to  talk  with  you.'  Whereat  the 
priest  No.  2  bowed  low,  and  apologizing  with  all  the 
fullness  of  this  suave  language  for  breaking  our  rest,  he 
added  yet  another  apology :  '  Pardon  me  for  coming 
here  after  indulging  in  sake,  but  it  is  our  custom  to 
study  until  ten  o'clock  at  night,  then  to  drink,  then  to 
lie  down  to  sleep.  And  as  I  had  taken  my  drink  before 
I  heard  you  were  here,  I  had  to  come,  drink  and  all,  or 
else  run  my  chances  of  not  finding  you  here  in  the 


106  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

morning.'  With  these  polite  words,  he  touched  his 
forehead  once  more  to  the  mats  where  he  was  kneel- 
ing, then  gathered  himself  and  his  books  together  and 
departed.  If  he  reads  what  I  wrote  on  the  sixth  com- 
mandment, he  will  learn  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to 
commit  slow  suicide  by  drinking  sake." 

In  later  years  Mr.  DeForest  wondered,  with  a  twinge 
of  regret,  at  the  boldness  and  the  baldness  with  which, 
in  some  of  his  early  sermons  and  in  these  booklets,  he 
had  scored  popular  superstitions  and  religious  customs. 
In  so  far,  indeed,  as  they  gave  a  merciless  presentation 
of  some  foolish  and  evil  aspects  of  Japanese  life,  they 
were  of  a  destructive  order  ;  but  they  carried  a  message 
of  something  better  and  higher  than  that  which  they 
mocked  and  overthrew, — the  message  of  the  one  true 
God  and  the  life  in  harmony  with  His  divine  laws. 
The  books  on  the  Commandments  were  providentially 
used  for  much  good,  and  that  not  merely  in  the  way 
immediately  intended  by  their  writer.  Many  years 
later  he  received  a  neatly  bound  copy  of  the  set  with  a 
manuscript  introduction  that  reads,  when  translated,  as 
follows : 

"  On  reading  this  book,  '  The  True  Argument  on 
the  Ten  Commandments,'  seeing  how  thoroughly  it 
pointed  out  and  exposed  the  evil  customs  of  a  bad 
country,  I  thought  it  a  severe  criticism  made  from 
shallow  insight  and  superficial  observation,  and  would 
have  none  of  it.  That  was  my  feeling  on  a  first  read- 
ing. On  a  second  reading,  I  began  to  assent  to  it :  on 
a  third,  there  were  parts  that  I  admired  as  an  example 
to  myself,  for  in  them  it  was  not  hard  to  discern  the 
attitude  of  the  missionaries  that  come  to  us  from  abroad, 


"  A  PREACHING  MISSIONARY  »  107 

with  the  true  evangelistic  spirit  as  taught  in  1  Thessa- 
lonians  1  and  2  showing  itself  powerfully  in  their 
words  and  actions.  After  I  had  meditated  on  this  fact 
and  had  cometo  understand  it,  I  borrowed  the  thoughts 
of  this  book,  and  using  them  frequently  as  material  for 
sermons,  I  know  not  how  many  times  I  have  exhorted 
my  fellow-countrymen  with  them.  Finally,  I  had  the 
volume  rebound  and  was  keeping  it  as  a  rare  book,  and 
one  loved  by  the  early  Christians. 

"  At  first  when  I  heard  some  time  ago  that  my  hon- 
oured spiritual  brother,  regretting  that  he  had  kept  no 
copy  of  this  book  and  wishing  to  secure  one,  was  think- 
ing of  advertising  for  one  in  the  papers  and  through 
friends,  I  thought,  since  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
have  one,  I  would  present  it  to  him.  But  the  oppor- 
tunity has  not  offered  until  now.  This  time,  however, 
I  have  had  the  unexpected  delight  of  meeting  him  per- 
sonally in  our  Fukushima  Church  and  of  hearing  him 
preach.  Out  of  the  fullness  of  this  joy  and  as  a  small 
expression  of  my  gratitude,  recalling  my  former  inten- 
tion I  have  written  this  word  of  explanation,  and  pre- 
sent this  book  in  memory  of  the  occasion. 
"  With  respectful  salutations, 

"  Your  younger  brother  in  the  faith, 

[Signed] — , 

«  Pastor  of Church. 

"  November  U,  1909. 

"  To  my  spiritual  elder  Brother ', 

"  The  Honourable  Dr.  DeForest,  Fourth  Order 
of  Merit." 


IV 

Furlough  and  Readjustment 


"The  prime  quality  of  a  real  critic  is  sympathy." — Goethe. 

"  There  is  no  other  approach  to  a  man  or  a  race.  Truth- 
speaking  is  of  prime  importance  ;  but  truth  is  revealed  to 
the  sympathetic  only.  None  can  understand  a  foreign 
people  until  he  studies  them  in  the  light  of  their  ideals." 

— Hamilton  W.  Mabie. 


IV 
FURLOUGH  AKD  READJUSTMENT 

IN  1882  Mr.  DeForest's  work  was  interrupted  by  a 
breakdown.  That  which  he  had  succeeded  in  es- 
caping during  the  earlier  years  was  brought  on  by 
the  "  delightful,  murderous  "  work  of  touring  and  by 
the  summer  heat,  to  which  he  was  especially  sensitive 
when  tired ;  so  that  a  furlough  of  a  year  and  a  half  in 
America  was  necessitated  two  winters  before  the  then 
prescribed  term  of  ten  years  was  completed. 

Good  care,  tramps  among  California  canyons,  Maine 
woods,  and  New  Hampshire  hills,  and  the  inspiration 
from  touch  with  old  friends  and  ideals,  brought  back 
much  of  his  former  vigour.  "The  only  thing  that 
raises  a  doubt,"  he  wrote  when  ready  to  start  back  to 
work,  "  is  the  sun  of  Japan.  It  seems  reasonable  to 
me  that  by  going  earlier  into  the  mountains  and  stay- 
ing later,  I  can  preach  winters,  and  do  literary  work 
summers,  in  Japan."  He  was  allowed  then  to  return, 
under  the  conditions  of  the  following  "  charge  "  from 
the  Board  secretary,  Dr.  N.  G.  Clark,  whom  he  loved 
with  a  filial  affection  and  called  his  "  father  in  Bos- 
ton " :  "  We  send  you  back  with  the  understanding  that 
you  are  not  to  do  full  work  ;  that  you  are  to  limit  your- 
self strictly  to  your  ability  in  accordance  with  your 
best  judgment  and  the  judgment  of  Mrs.  DeForest :  she 
is  to  have  important  supervision  over  you  in  this  re- 
Ill 


112  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

spect.  We  feel  that  half- work  from  you  will  be  better 
than  full  work  by  any  new  man  we  can  send  out  for 
the  next  five  years.  Therefore  we  charge  you  to  be 
prudent  and  careful,  and  to  forbear  all  exhausting 
labours.  Please  refer  to  this  charge  when  you  are 
pressed  to  overwork  yourself  by  missionary  or  native 
friends."  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  DeForest  seem  to  have 
obeyed  these  instructions  and  guarded  his  health,  for 
he  was  able  to  take  his  second  term  of  eleven  winters 
and  his  third  term  of  twelve  without  serious  debilita- 
tion ;  although  it  should  be  added  that  in  each  of  those 
terms  he  took  a  six-months  trip  to  America  on  family 
business. 

The  return  trip  to  Japan  was  marked  by  the  delight- 
ful companionship  of  congenial  fellow-travellers ; 
among  them,  he  writes,  "  is  a  Hindoo,  a  celebrated 
member  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  of  India,  who  has  been 
speaking  in  different  cities  in  America.  He  believes  in 
the  one  universal  Spirit  God,  and  regards  Jesus  as  the 
best  prophet  that  ever  lived.  He  is  a  very  able  man, 
kind,  thoughtful,  devout,  and  seems  to  live  very  near  to 
God.  I  have  had  many  talks  with  him  and  have 
learned  many  things.  I  hope  his  labours  will  be 
blessed  to  the  good  of  India.  Your  papers  have  doubt- 
less spoken  of  him, — his  name  is  Mozoomdar."  From 
a  letter  written  afterwards  by  Mr.  Mozoomdar  to  Mr. 
DeForest,  the  following  paragraph  is  worthy  of  note 
because  it  was  underlined  by  the  recipient  as  express- 
ing thoughts  that  struck  him :  "  Accept  my  cordial 
sympathy  with  every  department  of  your  work.  My 
natural  affinities  with  undenominational  Christianity 
are  great.  But  I  have  always  held  that  all  religion,  to 
be  truly  beneficent  and  saving,  must  receive  a  constant 


FUELOUGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT         113 

increase  of  tJie  Spirit,  and  a  steady  advance  in  morality 
and  practical  usefulness.  A  religion  that  shows  no  real 
progress  is  a  dead  organism.  A  religion  that  has  not 
in  it  the  gift  and  the  growth  of  the  Spirit  is  a  whitened 
sepulchre.  Hence  I  have  always  kept  aloof  from  mere 
dogmatism,  both  Hindoo  and  Christian.  My  dear 
brother,  let  us  pray  that  the  indwelling  God  may  kindle 
our  souls  to  find  His  living  providence  both  in  and  out 
of  all  denoininationalism.  Let  us  pray  that  we,  and  all 
those  of  whom  we  have  charge,  may  grow  steadily  in 
faith,  hope,  and  charity." 

This  appeal  for  a  growing  religion  untrammelled  by 
dogmatism  and  denominationalism  expressed  what  was 
increasingly  the  desire  of  the  missionary's  own  heart. 
Of  union  movements  and  interdenominational  coopera- 
tion he  had  always  been  in  favour.  He  was  happy  to 
find  on  his  return  what  he  called  "  one  of  the  best  signs 
of  the  times,"  when  one  of  the  Osaka  Christians  said  to 
him,  "  We  used  to  call  ourselves  the  four  churches 
[Congregational],  but  now  we  call  ourselves  the  eight 
churches" — including  in  fellowship  the  other  Protestant 
denominations.  An  extract  from  the  diary  of  an  Ise 
trip  shows  the  same  attitude  that  he  had  taken  in 
Tottori  towards  the  Greek  Church,  taken  this  time 
towards  another  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  :  "  Ito 
came  and  spent  three  hours  with  me  yesterday.  Is 
getting  thick  with  Catholic  priests  too.  So  I  took  the 
bull  by  the  horns,  and  as  he  asked  me  to  a  foreign  din- 
ner next  Friday  eve,  I  suggested  he  ask  the  priests  too, 
which  he  agreed  to  do ;  and  when  he  asked  me  the  dif- 
ference betwreen  Protestant  and  Catholic,  I  told  him 
there  were  differences  in  Christian  nations,  but  Japan 
ought  not  to  inherit  them,  rather  should  be  one  from 


114  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

the  start,  as  Christ  urged.  So  I  would  strive  to  fulfill 
the  law,  and  would  be  glad  to  have  priests  preach  with 
us  at  the  theatre  next  Saturday  and  Sunday  evenings. 
He  agreed  to  give  the  invitation,  which  I  wish  might 
be  accepted  in  good  faith.  I  told  Ito  to  join  either 
branch,  but  to  do  it  from  faith  in  Christ  as  Saviour 
from  sin,  and  ever  to  believe  that  all  Christians  should 
be  one." 

A  very  practical  instance  of  interdenominational 
cooperation  was  the  building  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  Hall  in  Osaka,  the  first  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  building  in  Japan.  Mr. 
DeForest's  emphasis  on  the  need  of  a  large  central  hall 
for  Christian  meetings  resulted  in  the  formation  of  an 
interdenominational  committee  to  raise  the  necessary 
building  fund.  "  Such  a  hall,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest  in 
promoting  the  cause,  "  would  now  be  to  Christian  pub- 
lic opinion  in  Central  Japan  what  Faneuil  Hall  was  to 
the  cause  of  liberty."  At  first  the  mission  boards  rep- 
resented in  Osaka  were  asked  to  contribute ;  but  this 
method  of  securing  the  money  was  later  given  up  in 
favour  of  applying  for  it  to  the  International  Com- 
mittee of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in 
New  York  and  in  London.  In  connection  with  this 
change  of  plan,  Mr.  DeForest  wrote  to  the  American 
Board  :  "  If  the  Associations  of  London  and  New  York 
don't  take  up  this  matter,  rather  than  let  it  fail  I  should 
let  the  honour  of  the  movement  fall  to  the  American 
Board  [which  had  already  raised  some  money  for  the 
purpose].  My  great  ambition  is  to  have  all  the  Chris- 
tians in  Osaka  united  in  heart  and  works, — though  the 
membership  of  the  churches  in  connection  with  us  is 
double  that  of  all  the  other  churches  combined,  and 


FUKLOUGH  AKD  KEADJUSTMENT        115 

were  we  simply  desirous  of  '  grabbing  '  all  we  can,  we 
should  build  a  hall  for  Congregationalists.  But  since 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  the  only  in- 
stitution that  unites  all  the  denominations,  we  long  to 
pour  strength  into  that." 

As  hoped,  the  money  came  from  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  addressed  ;  the  Australian  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  also  sent  a  contribution. 
When  he  wrote  in  1886,  "  The  corner-stone  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building  is  being 
laid  to-day  '  To  the  Glory  of  God,'  "  he  added  enthu- 
siastically, "  This  splendid  gift  from  three  con- 
tinents, Europe,  America,  and  Australia,  will  give  an 
added  impulse  to  every  form  of  Christian  activity." 
It  was  the  non-sectarian  character  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  that  made  him  its  lifelong  friend. 
He  himself  worked  as  far  as  possible  on  non-denomina- 
tional lines.  Of  a  conversation  with  a  fellow-mission- 
ary of  another  board  when  the  occupation  of  a  given 
field  was  under  discussion,  the  following  record  re- 
mains :  "  Saw  G.  and  told  him  that,  much  as  we  owed 
our  boards,  we  owed  Christ  and  Japan  more,  and  our 
great  business  should  be  to  make  Christians  and  not 
sectarians."  When  the  question  of  union  between  the 
Presbyterian  and  the  Congregational  churches  in  Japan 
was  under  discussion  from  1886  to  1889,  he  was  en- 
thusiastic for  the  plan.  "  Personally  I  am  committed 
to  this  grand  movement  with  all  my  heart.  I  have 
worked  for  it  in  public  and  in  private  for  years." 

His  enthusiasm  for  the  independence  of  the  native 
church,  so  marked  in  his  early  years,  did  not  diminish ; 
rather,  it  increased  with  experience.  To  a  questioning 
American  Board  secretary  he  wrote :  "  You  speak  in 


116  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

your  late  letter  to  us,  discouraging  the  union  movement 
here  in  process.  The  fact  is,  we  foreigners  are  only  the 
tail  of  the  comet  and  are  whisked  around  whithersoever 
the  nucleus  leads.  Moreover,  we  have  for  years  de- 
liberately chosen  the  tail  position,  giving  all  the  rights 
of  independence  to  our  native  brethren.  They  have 
taken  the  initiative  in  this  as  in  other  movements. 
.  .  .  They  are  going  into  it  cautiously.  .  .  . 
There  will  be  nothing  done  in  a  hurry.  The  whole 
movement — so  far  as  I  have  observed  it — is  marked 
with  a  spirit  of  deep,  earnest  prayer  for  a  mighty  out- 
pouring of  God's  Spirit  upon  the  churches  and  upon 
Japan." 

When  there  arose  a  question  of  church  polity  in 
Niigata,  he  expressed  himself  thus :  "  To  attempt  to 
keep  our  Christians  in  Congregational  methods  only 
excites  their  suspicion  that  there's  a  screw  loose.  So  I 
suggested  the  following :  Not  to  oppose  the  tendency 
to  Presbyterianism,  but  to  give  the  group  of  Christians 
full  liberty  ;  tell  them  that  our  methods  are  Congre- 
gational and  we  work  on  those  lines  till  churches  get 
established  in  self-support  and  self-propagation,  and 
then  if  they  wish  to  change,  no  foreigner  has  the  right 
to  say,  '  You  shan't.'  " 

Of  this  "  self-support  and  self -propagation  "  an  inter- 
esting illustration  comes  from  this  period.  "  The  other 
day  Kev.  Mr.  Koki  came  to  invite  me  to  go  with  him 
on  another  trip  to  idolatrous  Ise.  Let  me  emphasize 
the  fact  that  /  was  the  invited  party.  Not  many  years 
ago,  we  missionaries  had  to  plan  the  tours  and  do  the 
inviting  and  pay  the  bills.  But  now  it  is  the  other 
way :  the  Christians  come  to  us  with  well-planned 
work,  and  ask  us  kindly  to  go  along  and  witness  with 


FUELOUGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT        117 

them  for  the  Master.  This  gives  us  an  immense  ad- 
vantage wherever  we  go.  In  a  sermon  at  Tsu,  the 
capital  of  Ise,  before  a  crowded  house  I  said :  '  Your 
talented  Fukuzawa  of  Tokyo  has  recently  published  in 
his  widely  read  newspaper  that  Christianity  is  bound  to 
win  here  in  Japan  for  five  reasons,  the  first  of  which  he 
strangely  says  is  money.  He  has  been  abroad  and,  im- 
pressed with  the  immense  wealth  of  Christian  countries, 
has  hastily  concluded  that  money  will  win  in  religion 
as  it  too  often  does  in  other  matters.  But  the  fact  is, 
true  Christianity  has  never  spread  in  any  nation  under 
heaven  by  the  power  of  money.  On  the  contrary, 
many  of  its  most  conspicuous  victories  have  been  won 
amidst  deep  poverty.  You  people  of  Ise  doubtless 
think  I  am  leading  about  this  gentleman,  Kev.  Mr. 
Koki,  and  footing  the  bills  while  he  does  the  preach- 
ing. If  so,  you  are  very  much  mistaken.  The  few 
Christians  of  his  church  in  Osaka,  not  one  of  whom  is 
a  man  of  wealth,  while  gladly  paying  him  a  little 
salary,  have  also  from  their  poverty  gathered  a  little 
money — just  about  a  dollar — and  in  order  to  show  their 
love  of  you  whom  they  have  never  seen,  and  to  hasten 
the  day  when  you  with  them  will  love  the  one  God 
and  Father  of  us  all,  they  have  sent  their  pastor  to  tell 
you  the  way  of  life — this  Jesus  Way.  The  few  Chris- 
tians of  Hisai  added  one  more  dollar,  and  the  yet  fewer 
brethren  of  Matsuzaka  raised  three  more,  and  with  this 
little  sum  this  gentleman  invited  me  to  come  with  him 
these  hundred  miles  and  help  tell  you  of  the  only  Name 
under  heaven  whereby  we  can  be  saved.'  I  don't 
know  whether  it  was  this  or  not,  but  on  leaving  Tsu 
we  were  told  that  we  could  pay  no  hotel  bills  there." 
Another  happy  piece  of  expansion  took  place  at 


118  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

Annaka,  the  old  home  of  Dr.  Neesiraa,  where  on  his 
return  to  Japan  he  had  founded  one  of  the  first  inde- 
pendent churches  in  the  empire.  In  1879  Mr.  DeForest 
had  assisted  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Danjo  Ebina 
and  his  installation  as  pastor  there.  Now  after  four 
years,  Mr.  DeForest  goes  as  mission  representative  to 
the  council  dismissing  Mr.  Ebina,  "their  influential 
and  beloved  pastor,"  after  a  spreading  and  fruitful 
work,  and  ordaining  his  successor.  "Four  hundred 
can  gather  in  the  audience  room,  and  it  was  about  full 
at  three  o'clock  to  witness  a  ceremony  that  filled  me 
with  amazement  and  also  delight.  Mr.  Ebina  read  his 
letter  of  resignation,  recounting  God's  mercies  in  his 
relation  with  them,  and  giving  a  few  words  only  of 
tender  farewell  to  his  people.  Then  the  moderator 
called  on  the  representative  of  the  church  to  answer 
this  question  :  '  Is  your  church  willing  to  dismiss  Mr. 
Ebina  ? '  and  the  unhesitating  reply  was,  '  We  are.' 
'  What  reason  have  you  for  this  action  ? '  '  None  other 
than  that  he  may  do  for  Maebashi  what  he  has  done 
for  Annaka,'  was  the  quiet  reply.  This  was  just  grand  ! 
— worth  going  twice  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to 
see  a  prosperous  church  give  up  her  noble  pastor  in 
order  that  they  might  send  him  forth  as  their  mission- 
ary !  A  little  of  that  kind  of  work  was  done  some 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  in  Antioch  when  the  church 
there  sent  Paul  off,  but  I  supposed  that  no  church 
would  be  simple  enough  to  furnish  another  specimen 
of  like  sacrifice.  Ah,  I  forgot  that  the  same  Holy 
Spirit  can  produce  the  same  precious  fruits  now  as 
then.  And  indeed,  this  Annaka  story  rather  throws 
in  the  shade  that  Antioch  church  in  one  respect  at 
least:   for  here  they  not  only  send  their  pastor,  but 


FUELOUGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT         119 

they  send  also  his  regular  salary  after  him,  besides 
providing  generously  for  his  successor."  ' 

If  the  independent  activities  of  the  native  churches 
thus  elicited  commendation,  so  also  did  the  continued 
progressiveness  of  the  government.  The  disestablish- 
ment of  the  state  priesthood,  and  the  influence  of  this 
step  on  religious  liberty,  were  noted,  chronologically  out 
of  place,  in  the  last  chapter.  Mr.  DeForest  did  not  fail 
to  deplore  in  public  the  postponement  of  new  legisla- 
tion regarding  marriage— a  postponement  (in  1885) 
attributed  to  the  concubinage  existing  in  many  upper- 
class  families  whom  the  legislation  might  have  seriously 
affected.  But  the  efficiency  of  the  local  government 
in  dealing  with  emergency  conditions  again  commanded 
his  admiration.  In  July,  1885,  occurred  one  of  the 
gravest  calamities  that  had  befallen  the  empire  for  a 
century — a  great  flood  in  which,  according  to  one 
estimate,  fifteen  thousand  lives  and  ten  million  dollars' 
worth  of  property  were  lost.  Lake  Biwa  rose  ten  feet 
above  its  usual  level,  causing  wide-spread  desolation. 
As  for  Osaka,  approximately  one-half  of  the  city  was 
flooded,  while  dozens  of  villages  in  the  low-lying 
country  around  were  inundated  or  even  obliterated. 
In  this  calamity,  the  authorities  had  prompt  relief  meas- 

1  This  quotation  is  from  a  "  familiar  letter  "  printed  anonymously 
by  the  American  Board.  In  sending  to  the  Board  a  long  account  of 
one  of  his  evangelistic  tours,  Mr.  DeForest  had  written  :  "Sickness, 
absence  from  Japan,  regular  school  or  other  fixed  duties  have  tied  all 
my  brothers  down  so  that  all  outside  work  has  fallen  to  me  alone. 
They  ought  to  appear  as  prominent  as  another  whose  lot  it  is  to  do 
the  joyous  and  exciting  work.  So  should  you  care  to  print,  how 
would  it  do  to  leave  out  my  name  ? ' '  Thus  it  happens  that  many 
leaflets  issued  by  the  Board  on  the  touring  work  in  Japan  in  thosa 
days  are  unsigned. 


120  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

ures  for  the  thousands  of  hungry,  homeless  people  that 
flocked  to  the  high  ground  around  the  castle,  or,  less 
fortunate,  were  imprisoned  for  days  in  cramped  second 
stories  or  on  roofs  amid  surging  waters.  In  the  midst 
of  the  universal  distress,  Governor  Tateno  and  General 
Takashima  took  especial  care  to  provide  for  the  foreign 
residents  on  the  Concession,  and  invited  them  all  to  re- 
move to  the  new  and  commodious  military  hospital 
near  the  castle. 

"  I'll  just  make  a  long  story  short,"  wrote  Mr. 
DeForest  to  his  mother.  "  We  live  between  two  wide 
rivers  and  on  low  ground.  The  water  generally  is  six 
or  eight  feet  lower  than  the  bank  on  which  is  our 
house,  while  in  heavy  rains  the  waters  rise  five  or  six 
feet ;  but  last  week  the  rivers,  having  an  immense 
body  of  water  from  the  great  lake  above  running  into 
them,  broke  banks  and  became  wild  in  their  reckless- 
ness. So  much  water  coming  up  and  up  till  our  front 
yard  and  all  the  streets  around  us  were  like  rivers, 
made  me  feel  shaky,  and  I  insisted  on  Lizzie  and  the 
children  going  up  into  the  city  on  higher  ground.  I 
stayed  two  nights  longer,  but  at  last  the  house  was 
surrounded  by  a  violent  current  that  I  was  afraid  would 
undermine  it  and  let  it  over,  and  so  I,  with  nearly  all 
others,  left  the  Concession  just  as  the  last  bridge  broke. 
I  had  rowed  around  a  large  part  of  the  night  in  my 
canoe,  warning  the  people  and  getting  them  off,  so  I 
was  very  tired ;  and  all  of  us — some  thirty  or  forty 
people — were  very  much  used  up  with  anxiety.  But  it 
is  all  over,  and  we  are  safe  and  well,  and  very  thankful. 
It  was  curious  to  turn  out  as  it  did : — On  Wednesday, 
July  first,  Allchin  and  I  were  out  helping  rescue  the 
people  that  were  being  driven  before  the  flood.     We 


FUKLOUGH  AM)  KEADJUSTMENT         121 

succeeded  in  getting  some  forty  women,  children,  and 
aged  ones  in  a  safe  place,  and  at  a  suggestion  of  mine 
to  one  of  the  rich  Christians  to  do  something,  he  went 
to  work  and  had  five  boats  carted  over  a  long  hill,  and 
launched  into  the  flood,  by  means  of  which  hundreds 
were  rescued.  On  Thursday,  July  second,  we  were 
rescued  ourselves.  The  storm  fortunately  began  to  go 
down  from  the  time  we  left  our  homes.  .  .  .  The 
American  consul  at  Kobe,  twenty  miles  distant,  sent  a 
relief  boat  to  us  with  provisions  ;  but  when  it  reached 
us,  we  were  safely  housed  on  high  ground  in  a  govern- 
ment hospital  where  we  were  receiving  every  attention 
from  the  government,  as  though  we  were  distinguished 
guests.  .  .  .  Thirty  years  ago  they  would  have 
shouted  with  delight  to  see  us  all  swept  away,  but  now 
they  vie  wTith  the  best  nations  of  the  earth  in  benevo- 
lence and  generosity  towards  all."  This  time  the  help 
offered  from  foreign  sources  was  accepted  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  wisely  used  for  clothing  and  industrial  im- 
plements to  enable  the  sufferers  to  start  at  earning  a 
livelihood  once  more. 

A  furlough,  or  even  a  six-months  absence  from  Japan, 
always  made  a  temporary  difference  in  the  ease  with 
which  Mr.  DeForest  used  the  language.  One  of  his 
first  speeches  after  his  return  from  America  was  on  the 
occasion  of  presenting  his  miyage,  or  gifts  given  after 
an  absence — the  "  Pastors'  Library  "  for  Osaka  and  its 
out-stations,  for  which  he  had  raised  a  considerable  sum 
in  America,  and  a  hanging  lamp  (in  those  days  before 
electricity)  to  each  of  the  four  churches  and  the  Baikwa 
Girls'  School.  For  this  address,  in  spite  of  his  previous 
experience  in  Japanese  public  speaking,  he  so  felt  his 
lack  of  recent  practice  in  the  language  that  he  used  an 


122  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

interpreter — to  insure,  he  said,  its  intelligibility  and  the 
comfort  of  the  listeners. 

"  Do  you  remember,"  he  once  wrote  his  mother, 
"  when  I  came  home  from  the  war,  how  I  stopped  at 
Mary's  because  I  could  go  no  farther,  and  you  came  to 
see  me  ?  I  often  tell  that  story  when  I  preach,  to  show 
the  power  of  love  in  the  hearts  of  true  parents  towards 
their  children,  and  then  speak  of  the  far  deeper  love  of 
the  Father  in  heaven  for  each  one  of  His  children. 
People  always  prick  up  on  this  story,  and  once  a  man 
afterwards  said  to  me,  'If  you  could  only  use  our 
language  as  we  do,  you  would  have  made  us  all  cry 
over  that  story.'  I'll  fetch  'em  yet  if  I  live."  He  kept 
persistently  at  his  study,  finding  in  his  work  perpetual 
stimuli  to  progress.  When  he  delivered  the  address  at 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stones  of  the  chapel  and  the 
library  of  the  Doshisha  School — now  University — at 
Kyoto  in  1885,  it  was  the  result  of  no  accident  that  he 
should  have  been  complimented  by  a  worthy  critic  on 
its  being  the  best  speech  he  had  ever  heard  a  foreigner 
make  in  Japanese.  "I  learned  later,"  runs  a  home 
letter,  "that  the  students  speculated  much  about  it, 
some  saying  DeForest  must  have  spent  two  or  three 
days  on  it,  others  saying  five  or  six  days.  The[fact  is, 
it  took  my  best  strength  for  nearly  three  weeks,  and  I 
committed  it  entire." 

He  had  soon  after  his  furlough  begun  the  serious 
study  of  the  Chinese  characters  used  in  the  written  lan- 
guage of  Japan,  giving  time  to  this  especially  in  the  sum- 
mers ;  he  hoped  to  become  able  to  read  the  language 
as  well  as  speak  it — an  ambition  that  comparatively 
few  missionaries  in  those  days  felt  it  worth  the  neces- 
sary sacrifice  of  time  and  effort  to  attain.     He  soon 


FUKLOtJGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT         123 

found,  however,  that  a  knowledge  of  the  character  not 
only  promoted  his  intelligent  use  of  the  language,  but 
also  furnished  new  and  effective  illustrations  for  his 
public  addresses ;  as  when,  in  telling  of  the  influence  of 
Christianity  in  the  elevation  of  woman,  he  made  his 
most  pointed  contrast  by  showing  how  many  of  the 
Chinese  ideographs  of  every-day  use  in  Japan  depict 
her  degradation.  Developing  a  suggestion  found  in  a 
quotation  from  the  Chinese  scholar  Remusat,  Mr. 
DeForest  used  impressively  in  his  preaching  a  line 
of  thought  that,  common  nowadays,  was  then  novel. 
An  extract  from  a  published  article  shows  the  thought 
in  clearer  detail :  "  The  men  who  invented  the  ideo- 
graphs of  China  saw  fit  to  represent  many  of  the  worst 
passions  of  the  human  heart  by  the  free  use  of  the 
onna-hen  [the  character  for  woman  used  as  a  component 
part  of  another  character],  to  the  exclusion  of  anything 
that  would  indicate  that  a  man  could  originate  an  evil 
act  or  thought.  .  .  .  Why  should  the  character  for 
slave  be  compounded  with  a  woman  rather  than  a 
man  ?  Why  should  anger  and  jealousy  and  unmannerly 
and  covetous  and  loose  character  and  opposition  and 
crafty  and  envious  be  likewise  compounded  ?  Did  it 
never  occur  to  the  originators  of  these  ideographs  that 
an  otoko-hen  [component  for  man]  might  have  justly 
done  one-half  of  this  filthy  business?  I  know  that 
many  words  expressing  beauty,  elegance,  refinement, 
etc.,  are  compounded  by  means  of  the  onna-hen,  but 
that  is  no  reason  why  her  character  should  be  black- 
ened by  exclusively  using  her  when  portraying  many 
of  the  hateful  depths  of  an  evil  heart.  We  would  not 
say  that  these  characters  are  a  shame  to  the  people  who 
in  the  remote  past  agreed  upon  their  use.     But  since 


124  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

they  represent  a  state  of  society  which  the  civilized 
world  has  disowned,  it  may  well  be  claimed  that  to 
persist  in  their  use  is  a  blot  upon  the  character  of  the 
nation.  Hence  it  seems  proper  to  suggest  that  some  of 
the  leading  newspapers  of  Tokyo  should  discard  those 
characters  that  totally  misrepresent  the  position  Japan 
is  rapidly  taking  concerning  women." 

These  remarks  on  the  position  of  woman  were,  how- 
ever, merely  an  interesting  addendum  to  deeper  thought 
by  which  he  had  already  traced  one  reason  for  her  rel- 
atively low  position  in  the  Orient.  He  ascribed  the  dif- 
ference in  her  position  under  different  ethical  systems  to 
the  relative  emphasis  laid  upon  one  or  another  of  the 
five  relationships  pointed  out  by  Confucius.  China, 
he  said,  took  as  the  fundamental  relationship  that  of 
parent  and  child,  and  shaped  its  life  upon  this  as  its 
greatest  social  and  moral  force.  Japan  took  the  re- 
lationship of  lord  and  retainer,  or  prince  and  subject, 
and  exalted  this  to  prime  importance  as  the  basis  of 
society.  "  [In  these  two  nations]  it  seems  to  me,"  he 
wrote,1  "  that  the  persistent  attempt  through  long  ages 
to  make  these  two  doctrines  the  foundation  of  society 
and  of  morals  accounts  better  than  any  other  one  fact 
for  their  national  character  and  their  social  condition." 
But  Christianity,  taking  the  third  relation  pointed  out 
by  Confucius,  that  of  husband  and  wife,  declares  this 
to  be  the  real  foundation  of  society,  and  thus  comes 
"  into  antagonism  with  the  social  science  of  both  Con- 
fucianism and  Buddhism."    The  pointing  out  of  this 

1  "  The  Basis  of  Society,"  in  the  Missionary  Herald,  December,  1889  ; 
written  in  substance  six  years  earlier.  For  a  general  discussion  of 
Confucianism,  see  "The  Ethics  of  Confucius  as  Seen  in  Japan,"  by 
J.  H.  DeForest  in  the  Andover  Review,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  309  sqq. 


FUBLOUGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT         125 

fundamental  difference  as  one  of  the  most  striking 
claims  of  Christian  ethics  to  superiority  over  other 
ethical  systems  met  the  thoughtful  attention  and  fre- 
quently the  assent  of  his  hearers. 

He  was  drawing  his  contrasts  now,  however,  in  a 
different  spirit  from  before.  He  was  learning  in  these 
post-furlough  days  a  lesson  fraught  with  the  most  vital 
consequences  to  his  future  work.  He  had  come  to 
realize  that  the  critical  attitude  of  his  early  years  in 
Japan  was  not  that  by  which  he  could  win  the  people 
for  a  Master  who  came,  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to 
save  it.  It  must  be  through  love  that  they  were  to  be 
won ;  and  this  love,  a  human  as  well  as  a  divine  thing, 
was  to  be  attained  through  sympathy.  Sympathy 
could  be  cultivated — a  point  of  view  could  be  attained. 
Evil  was  evil,  but  it  need  not  be  dwelt  on  to  the  ex- 
clusion from  sight  and  thought  of  those  good  qualities 
that  must  be  discoverable  still  in  man  once  made  in  the 
image  of  God.  He  would  seek  for  the  good  in  the 
Japanese  character,  find  it,  dwell  on  it  in  his  own 
thought  and  in  conversation  with  others,  use  it  as  a 
seed  from  which  to  develop  greater  good.  Whatsoever 
things  were  honourable,  just,  lovely,  and  of  good  report, 
on  these  things  he  would  think.  Thus  sympathy  would 
spring  up  between  him  and  those  he  sought  to  lead, 
and  love  would  conquer  uncongenialities,  misunder- 
standings, exasperations.  Not  that  he  had  not  already 
loved  them — but  it  had  not  been  with  the  love  of  in- 
sight and  understanding.  This  he  would  henceforth 
put  himself  in  the  way  of  acquiring, — by  entering  upon 
a  course  of  self-education  in  the  Japanese  point  of 
view. 

Many  years  later  he  related  the  story  of  this  decision 


126  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

to  his  son-in-law  just  entering  on  missionary  work,  who 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  conversation:  "  He 
told  me  that  during  the  first  ten  years  of  his  life  [in 
Japan]  he  was  very  critical  of  the  Japanese  and  could 
see  very  little  good  in  them.  At  that  time  he  resolved 
to  search  for  the  better  things  in  the  life  of  Japan,  and 
he  soon  found  sufficient  to  occupy  his  attention ;  and 
in  order  to  fasten  the  good  things  in  his  own  mind,  as 
well  as  to  help  other  people  to  the  better  point  of  view, 
he  definitely  refrained  from  speaking  about  the  irritat- 
ing and  unfavourable  things  and  told  the  better  things. 
He  soon  found,  so  he  said,  that  this  new  attitude  and 
new  practice  gave  him  an  insight  into  Japanese  life 
and  character  that  he  had  never  had  before,  and  he 
recommended  it  to  me  for  my  intercourse  with  the 
Chinese.  I  raised  the  question  as  to  whether  it  was 
not  really  a  case  of  self-deception,  and  he  said  most 
strongly  that  it  was  not, — that  the  irritating  things  are 
ever  the  most  apparent  to  a  foreigner,  and  that  since 
one's  mind  can  grasp  only  a  limited  amount  at  one 
time,  one  should  choose  the  best.  He  placed  great 
stress  upon  the  importance  of  choosing  carefully  the 
things  that  one  will  tell.  I  have  tried  to  follow 
the  advice  in  China,  and  have  found  it  good.  .  .  . 
I  know  of  no  one  conversation  I  have  ever  had  that  has 
affected  my  attitude  towards  other  men  as  much  as 
that  one." 

Late  in  life,  Mr.  DeForest  on  a  tour  wrote  home  to 
his  wife  of  a  conversation  with  some  of  his  audience 
after  a  public  address :  "  The  question  and  answer  that 
excited  the  most  interest  were,  '  What  do  you  think 
are  our  worst  defects  ?  '  asked  by  a  sincere  elderly  man ; 
and  my  reply,  *  Had  you  asked  me  that  twenty  years 


FURLOUGH  AND  READJUSTMENT         127 

ago,  I  could  have  told  you  lots  of  defects,  for  I  searched 
for  defects  during  my  early  years  here ;  but  when  I 
began  to  know  the  real  Japanese  heart,  I  began  to 
search  for  the  best  traits  of  Japanese  character,  and 
have  become  so  much  interested  in  these  that  I  don't 
care  to  talk  about  defects.'  " 

There  were  other  changes,  besides  that  of  his  own  at- 
titude, going  on  in  him  and  around  him.  Prior  to  his 
furlough  he  had,  as  we  have  seen,  given  a  good  deal  of 
time  to  overseeing  publication  and  translation  work  ; 
but  he  was  asked  by  the  Board  on  his  return  to  devote 
himself  to  direct  evangelistic  activities.  This  he  gladly 
undertook.  The  times  were  showing  on  the  one  hand 
the  shallowness  of  some  of  the  popularity  of  Christian- 
ity a  few  years  before ;  its  rapid  spread  then  had 
blinded  many  of  the  missionaries  to  the  real  strength 
of  the  enemy.  In  those  days  Mr.  DeForest  had  spoken 
of  "the  already  startled  systems  of  Shaka  and  Con- 
fucius," and  had  considered  it  a  waste  of  time  to  study 
a  "  dying  Buddhism."  He  now  began  to  see  that  the 
hold  of  Buddhism  upon  the  people  was  more  than  that 
of  mere  superstition.  He  began  to  have  a  new  type 
of  interview  with  Buddhist  priests,  such  as  the  diary 
records  as  having  taken  place  on  a  tour,  at  Otsumura. 
After  a  preaching  service  in  the  hotel,  "  a  large  number 
remained  to  question  me,  or,  rather,  to  hear  four  priests 
who  had  a  knowing  leader  question  me.  I  felt  unable, 
as  it  evidently  was  a  match  for  conquest,  but  couldn't 
retreat  well.  He  asked  me  what  sin  is  ;  to  which  I  re- 
plied it  was  sin  to  harm  one's  own  nature,  to  harm 
others,  and  to  violate  God's  laws.  So  he  took  my  first 
and  asked  if  the  one  who  violated  his  own  nature  was 
different  from  that  nature.     But  that  was  too  meta- 


128  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOBEST 

physical  for  me,  and  I  failed  on  it.  Then  followed 
salvation  by  good  works  and  salvation  by  faith.  Here 
we  got  along  better,  but  he  declared  he  could  see  no 
reason  in  believing  what  he  couldn't  understand.  Our 
talk  lasted  till  eleven  o'clock,  and  then  I  invited  them 
to  come  to  Kishiwada  next  day  and  talk  leisurely  about 
things.  They  said  they  would,  and  kept  their  promise. 
This  time  I  excluded  all  hearers,  and  took  the  three 
alone  in  rear  room  of  chapel  where  we  got  better  ac- 
quainted. Our  talk  was  mainly  on  strength  of  knowl- 
edge and  of  faith,  in  which  I  claimed  that  faith  was 
the  stronger  and  that  it  led  knowledge  and  increased 
it.  We  also  talked  long  about  the  origin  of  evil.  His 
thought  that,  as  a  potter  would  make  out  of  one  hun- 
dred vessels  ninety  or  ninety-eight  or  nine  good,  as  a 
carpenter  would  make  most  of  his  houses  so  as  to  stand 
well,  why  didn't  God  make  men  and  women  so  that  at 
least  they  would  stand  as  well  as  man's  work  ? — was 
somewhat  new  to  me.  We  parted  after  a  pleasant  talk, 
though  they  frankly  declared  themselves  not  con- 
vinced." Not  only  did  he  come  to  have  more  respect 
for  the  intellectual  ability  of  some  members  of  the 
Buddhist  priesthood :  he  even  drew  a  lesson  for  himself 
in  fair  play  and  open-mindedness  from  an  incident  that 
he  thus  recorded :  "  Matsumoto  told  me  a  story — that 
when  Utsumi  was  henrei  [prefect]  some  young  fellows 
got  up  an  enzetsukai  [lecture  meeting],  advertising  it 
with  posters, '  Demolish  the  Jesus  priests  ! '  The  police 
were  told  to  tear  down  the  objectionable  posters,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  lecture  the  young  men  were 
stopped  and  the  audience  dismissed  by  the  police.  The 
young  men  were  afterwards  called  to  the  police  station 
and  cautioned  not  to  repeat  the  offense !    Surely  we 


FUKLOUGH  AND  READJUSTMENT         129 

all  should  be  more  careful  then  not  to  recklessly  attack 
Buddhism." 

If,  on  the  one  hand,  Christianity  had  lost  its  former 
popularity,  it  was,  on  the  other  hand,  being  refreshed 
and  built  up  from  within.  The  period  was  one  of  re- 
vivals, breaking  out  in  many  places  throughout  Japan, 
cleansing  and  strengthening  the  young  churches,  and 
arousing  hopes  of  a  great  ingathering  from  among 
those  who  had  long  been  unresponsive  hearers  of  the 
Word.  Mr.  DeForest  was  in  sympathy  with  these  re- 
vivals, believing  with  Mr.  Mozoomdar  in  the  necessity 
of  "  the  increase  of  the  Spirit  "  in  a  growing  religious 
life.  He  joyfully  resumed  his  touring  activities  as  well 
as  his  local  work,  with  earnest  definiteness  of  purpose 
coupled  with  a  sense  of  his  own  weakness  ;  "  Churches 
are  springing  up  all  around, — in  and  out  of  our  mis- 
sion,— and  I  thought  if  God  would  only  use  me  as  He 
is  using  others  to  bring  people  directly  into  the  Chris- 
tian life,  I'd  rather  do  that  than  all  things  else.  It  is  a 
branch  of  work  that  I  have  never  been  successful  in, 
that  I  attempt  with  many  fears  and  asking  your  prayers 
for  a  divine  blessing."  "  I  begin  to  feel,  as  father 
used  to  tell  me,  that  we  can  do  just  nothing  unless  we 
have  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  I  have  been  reading 
Moody's  sermons,  and  they  are  as  water  to  a  thirsty 
throat.  I  can  interest  my  audiences,  either  in  English 
or  Japanese.  But  to  preach  so  that  people  will  be  con- 
victed of  sin  and  repent  right  there  and  then,  this  is 
something  I  now  pray  for  more  than  ever  before,  and 
you  must  remember  this  in  your  prayers  for  me." 

Now  upon  the  basis  of  the  apologetic  sermons  in  his 
earlier  tours,  he  was  able  to  build  more  definite  pres- 
entations of  Christian  truth,  and  such  topics  as,  "  Jesus 


130  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

More  Than  Man,"  "  Jesus  as  God,"  "  The  Morals  of 
Jesus,"  "  The  Name  of  God  "—that  name  of  "  Father  " 
by  virtue  of  which  he  declared  the  religion  of  Christ 
to  be  universal  as  no  other  religious  system  can  be, — 
such  subjects  of  his  sermons  and  addresses  show  how 
he  felt  his  hearers  to  be  progressing  and  himself  to  be 
able  to  make  an  appeal  along  lines  somewhat  different 
from  those  he  had  previously  followed.  The  call  to 
repentance  still  sounded,  but  it  was  with  the  emphasis 
on  the  joyful  motive — "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand  "  ;  and  the  fruits  of  love,  joy,  peace  and  eternal 
life  were  the  features  dwelt  upon,  with  stress  on  "  Now 
is  the  accepted  time."  His  note-book  gives  one  illus- 
tration of  "  how  Western  nations  were  now  at  hand — 
near,  in  contrast  to  past  ages.  Then  Japan  didn't  know 
anything  of  the  West ;  now  daily  news,  communication 
and  intercourse  free.  So  heaven,  formerly  unknown, 
now  becoming  well  known — God  near,  blessedness 
near." 

A  few  diary  extracts  show  the  spirit  of  his  work  : 

Koriyama. — "  I  preached  on  '  Witnessing  for  Christ,' 
its  importance,  what  it  is,  its  results ;  the  milkman  [a 
backslider]  bowed  his  head,  and  after  the  preaching 
burst  into  tears  and  confessed  his  sins." 

"  Preached  on  the  '  Three  All's  '  in  Matthew  xxviii. 
Was  not  at  all  gifted  in  the  presentation  of  it,  but  am 
content  to  leave  it  with  Christ  to  bless,  and  will  try  to 
do  better  next  time." 

Matsuzaha. — "  Hard  trip  and  much  headache. 
Preached  in  evening  to  a  few  people.  Not  the  joy  I 
need  for  work.  Heavy.  I  am  impatient  to  see  re- 
sults ;  envious,  I  fear,  of  others'  successes." 

Koriyama. — "  Preached  in  evening  on  *  Fight  the 


FUELOUGH  AND  KEADJUSTMENT         131 

Good  Fight,'  and  had  excellent  attention ;  about  twenty- 
five  adults  present.  Have  enjoyed  these  two  evenings 
very  much,  and  see  reason  to  thank  God  for  a  growing 
interest  here.     If  I  might  only  have  faith !  " 

Tondabayashi. — "The  principal  of  the  school  is  a 
Christian.  He  heard  eight  years  ago  at  Kobe  from 
Atkinson,  and  five  years  ago  at  Kishiwada  from  Nee- 
sima.  Was  very  profligate  and  so  wretched  that  he 
contemplated  suicide,  when  he  read  my  tract  on  suicide 
and  felt  the  need  of  a  new,  reformed  life,  and  not  of 
death.  So  God  is  leading  out  His  own  from  among 
this  people,  planting  a  Christian  here  and  another 
there,  to  be  His  witness-bearers.  Thine  is  the  power 
— may  it  be  on  us  to-night  as  we  speak !  " 

Sakai. — "  After  long  absence,  once  more  preached 
here.  ...  I  met  several  bright,  able  young  men  ; 
but  they  are  shy  of  Christianity.  So  I  preached  on 
reasons  why  people  don't  accept  Christianity  ;  had  ex- 
cellent attention.  As  God  blessed  this  same  sermon 
just  a  year  ago  in  bringing  O.  and  Y.  into  Temma 
Church,  so  may  He  bless  it  here." 

Tottori. — "  Kajiro  has  been  out  this  morning,  and  re- 
turns saying  that  my  speeches  have  produced  great  dis- 
appointment. Many  feel  that  the  foreigner  looks  with 
contempt  upon  everything  Eastern  ;  but  they  also  feel 
that  what  I  said  is  true,  and  hence  not  anger,  but  dis- 
appointment. I  was  aware  that  speaking  in  my  tired 
state  made  me  liable  to  incline  towards  a  fault-finding 
tone.  I  must  be  doubly  on  guard  under  such  circum- 
stances again." 

Tsu. — "  Saw  S.  in  the  evening ;  had  long  talk.  He 
was  very  cordial,  but  frankly  said  he  couldn't  believe 
Christianity  yet,  as  he  hadn't  time  to  examine  facts. 


132  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

I  told  him  he  knew  enough  of  facts  already  to  have 
a  reasonable  belief  of  God's  love  in  Jesus  Christ. 
He,  however,  still  wanted  more  time  to  examine,  but 
was  too  busy  now  to  do  it.  I  asked  him  how  long  it 
would  take  to  decide  whether  he  would  love  and 
honour  his  parents.  But  he  is  to  be  led  not  all  at 
once." 

Koriyama. — "Came  for  a  month's  stay  to  help,  if 
possible,  and  to  cheer,  this  little  afflicted  church. 
Spoke  on  the  '  Future  World,'  John  v.  28,  29.  Had 
excellent  attention.  Power  was  given  me  for  unu- 
sual directness  of  appeal.  May  it  be  that  our  prayers 
will  be  answered  and  to-night  some  souls  repent ! 
K.  remarked  afterwards  that  surrender  to  Christ  was 
the  only  course  left  open."  (Ten  days  later.)  "  Called 
to-day  on  K.,  and  after  salutations  his  first  words  were, 
i  I  am  repentant.'  "  .  .  .  "  Sunday  evening  spoke 
on  '  True  and  False  Philosophy,'  Col.  ii.  3,  8.  Had 
house  full  and  spoke  an  hour,  contrasting  lives  of  phi- 
losophers, and  affirming  that  we  can  judge  the  worth  of 
systems  by  their  fruits.  Was  thoroughly  waked  up  by 
this.  Many  teachers  and  scholars  present.  Such 
meetings  must  tell.  The  Holy  Spirit  seems  to  be  work- 
ing here,  but  the  hearers  are  resisting."  .  .  . 
"  The  month  ended.  Fruit  is  apparent,  but  only  in  the 
shape  of  interest.  No  deep  decision.  Preached  on 
'  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  rule  over  us,'  or,  '  The 
power  of  the  soul  to  decide.'  Spoke  without  much 
feeling.  A  large  number  of  people  in  this  city  have 
known  Christianity  for  a  long  time,  and  if  they  would 
only  repent,  this  whole  province  would  feel  the  power 
of  the  change.  Oh,  that  my  poor  words  may  have  an 
abiding  effect !  " 


FUKLOUGH  AND  EEADJUSTMENT         133 

"  [When  asked  by  some  Christians]  how  to  answer 
such  questions  as,  '  Why  does  God  permit  sin  ? '  and 
how  to  meet  Buddhists,  I  gave  with  some  hesitation 
two  ways:  1.  If  you  meet  arguers  with  arguments, 
both  sides  will  be  likely  to  desire  nothing  so  much  as 
victory,  and  the  struggle  will  be  for  that.  The  winner 
will  feel  exultant,  and  the  defeated  will  be  bitter.  A 
few  can  use  this  successfully,  but  seldom  indeed  are  be- 
lievers made  so.  So  generally  argument  should  be  re- 
fused for  a  better  weapon,  which  is :  2.  Pray  on  the 
spot  for  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  let  Him  speak 
through  you,  remembering  that  your  experiences  of 
God's  forgiving  love  will  enable  you  to  speak  with 
power  of  your  faith.  Exalt  your  faith,  show  how  if 
you  could  understand  all  God's  ways  you  would  be  as 
great  as  God  ;  but  because  He  has  revealed  so  much  of 
Himself,  you  will  trust  Him  for  the  hard  spots.  Any- 
way, love  must  control  our  replies  to  all  inquirers. 
Then  speak  of  Christ,  and  leave  it  with  God  to  use. 
You  can't  convince  nor  convert  anybody.  Tell  the 
story ;  tell  your  faith  ;  and  leave  it  with  God." 

This  was  his  own  best  answer  to  himself,  in  the  midst 
of  longings  for  great  visible  results  of  his  work  in  the  con- 
version of  many.  His  yearning  prayer  for  such  results, 
however,  was  not  granted.  It  was  only  little  by  little, 
one  gained  here  and  two  won  there  and  others  coming  to 
listen,  that  he  could  see  his  efforts  blessed.  He  would 
have  asked  for  some  striking  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  power  through  him  ;  but  instead  he  was  learn- 
ing the  lesson  that  it  was  God  who  should  give  the  in- 
crease,— his  was  only  the  faithful  planting  and  water- 
ing. To  this  ministry  he  gave  himself  with  earnest 
love  ;  and  in  it  he  found  the  answer  to  his  prayers.    As 


13±  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

when  a  boy  at  Phillips  Academy  he  had  longed  in  vain 
for  some  special  experience  of  conviction  of  sin,  and  had 
been  led  to  see  that  the  work  of  the  Spirit  was  none 
the  less  genuine  because  of  slow  and  unostentatious 
growth,  so  here  his  answer  came  in  the  quiet,  steady 
progress  of  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept,  a 
message  lovingly  imparted  to  others  as  it  was  imparted 
to  him,  deepening  his  own  spiritual  life.  "  December  31, 
1885.  My  old  year  has  brought  me  a  new  love  in  my 
work.  I  know  myself  better  than  ever  before,  and  I 
know  that  in  myself  I  can  do  nothing.  I  am  quite 
well  convinced,  too,  that  it  is  mine  to  do  ordinary,  not 
extraordinary,  things,  and  I  am  grateful  to  be  per- 
mitted to  do  anything  for  Him  whom  I  believe  more 
and  more  to  be  the  great  Teacher  and  Saviour  of  all 
men.  In  trying  to  teach  the  Japanese  about  Jesus,  I 
have  found  out  many  new  things  about  Him." 

His  missionary  motive  was  practical,  not  theological 
— love,  not  theory.  When  the  question  of  future  pro- 
bation was  arousing  argument  in  America,  he  regretted 
that  some  earnest  missionary  candidates  might  be 
prevented  from  joining  the  field  forces,  "  owing  to  the 
unfounded  assertions  of  certain  prominent  men,  that  it 
is  necessary  to  a  true  missionary  spirit  that  missionaries 
should  have  positive  views  as  to  the  condition  of  dead 
men.  If  any  one  finds  a  powerful  motive  to  missionary 
work  in  the  condition  of  living  men,  he  ought  not  to 
be  pushed  too  hard  on  the  state  of  the  dead." 

The  answer  to  his  prayers  came  not  only  in  the 
deepening  of  his  spiritual  experience  and  the  growth  of 
sympathy,  but  in  an  intellectual  quickening  that  marked 
an  epoch  in  his  life.  That  this  was  a  definite  leading 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  he  had  no  doubt,  and  he  followed 


FUELOUGH  AND  KEADJTJSTMENT         135 

this  kindly  light,  beckoning  him  to  study  more  of  God's 
methods  of  work  in  human  minds.  The  diary  tells  us 
something  of  this  in  extracts  from  the  early  part  of 
1886,  while  in  the  interior  on  evangelistic  work : 

"  Have  spent  three  mornings  writing  a  letter  to  Yale 
Seminary,  and  have  enjoyed  it. — Have  learned  a  new 
trick — to  write  down  in  a  note-book  all  matters  that  I 
don't  understand,  to  be  looked  up  on  my  return  home. 
I  have  been  slovenly  in  my  reading  and  studying,  slid- 
ing over  things  that  I  didn't  understand.  Now  on  this 
new  year,  I  mean  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf  and  study 
hard  things.  It's  a  shame  to  rest  content  in  the  belief 
that  we  have  the  truth  and  so  needn't  trouble  our 
brains  about  philosophies.  I  must  know  more  of  the 
science  of  man  and  of  mind,  and  the  laws  of  true 
reasoning,  and  not  content  myself  with  a  quibble." 
"  This  year  begins  with  a  new  intellectual  life  for  me. 
Being  led  by  the  pamphlet  size  of  McCosh's  '  Philo- 
sophical Series '  to  carry  one  or  two  on  my  trips,  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life  I  have  become  interested  in 
metaphysics.  Now  I  eagerly  read  Porter's  '  Human 
Intellect,'  which  has  always  seemed  an  elephant  to  me ; 
I  delight  in  Hopkins'  '  Outline  Stud}^  of  Man,'  and 
have  planned  to  spend  now  as  many  years  as  are  neces- 
sary to  learn  the  science  of  man — though  Froude  says 
there  can't  be  any.  I  plan  hereafter  to  task  my  mind 
in  some  definite  study  or  studies,  and  to  progress, 
instead  of  resting  under  the  fatal  idea  that  I  am  getting 
old  and  past  my  prime.  With  God's  help,  I  am  no- 
where near  my  prime.  The  laws  of  logic  must  be 
mastered,  the  great  idea  of  evolution  and  the  statements 
of  materialistic  scientists  mnst  be  learned  at  first  hand. 
It  is  a  shame  to  have  drifted  forty-two  years.     The 


136  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

next  thirty  shall  be  progress.  I  will  know  the  best 
thoughts  of  the  best  minds.  Kant,  Locke,  and  other 
great  dead  shall  be  my  teachers,  as  well  as  the  great 
living.  The  growth  of  political  economy,  the  great 
socialistic  problems,  the  history  of  my  own  language, 
etc.,  etc.,  shall  be  inquired  into."  "  Feeling  the  im- 
portance of  Christians  becoming  lights  in  every  good 
direction,  I  have  encouraged  them  here  to  tackle  A-B-C 
and  join  Romaji-Tcwai  [society  for  encouraging  the  use 
of  the  Eoman  alphabet  in  writing  Japanese].  .  .  . 
I  have  also  been  taking  titles  of  prominent  books  that 
have  been  translated  for  all  our  evangelists  to  read  and 
study.  Our  men  must  be  leaders  of  thought  in  political 
economy,  in  philosophy,  and  other  branches  of  thought 
that  have  their  centre  in  man  rather  than  in  matter. 
Ethics,  law,  religion,  and  all  sciences  that  pertain  to 
man  must  flourish  in  connection  with  Christianity." 

In  the  letter  to  Yale  referred  to  above,  he  gives  some 
of  the  features  of  the  times  that  had  been  God's  instru- 
ments to  lead  him  to  the  conclusions  voiced  in  his  diary. 
This  letter  was  the  last  of  a  series  written  to  the  sem- 
inary during  these  first  twelve  years  in  Japan  ;  and 
there  is  no  more  appropriate  way  of  closing  this  chapter 
of  his  life  than  by  quoting  it. 

"  Koriyama,  Japan,  Jan.  18,  1886. 
"  My  dear  Mr.  Morse  and  other  Friends 
in  Yale  Seminary  : 

"  Your  pleasant  letter  asking  me  to  write 
you  with  reference  to  my  every-day  life  here  was  duly 
received,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  invitation.  Before 
replying,  however,  let  me  frankly  scold  you  for  sending 
me  only  an  invitation  to  write  you.     Knowing  that  I 


FUELOUGH  AND  READJUSTMENT         137 

am  a  Yale  man,  why  didn't  yon  follow  the  Golden 
Rule  and  fill  up  the  rest  of  that  small  sheet  of  paper 
with  some  of  the  gossip  of  the  seminary  ?     .     .     . 

"  But,  forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  let  me 
give  you  an  idea  of  my  life  in  connection  with  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  Young  Japan.  I  am  spending  this 
month  twenty-five  miles  from  my  home  in  Osaka,  in 
the  castle-city  of  Koriyama.  The  old  castle  lies  just 
west  of  the  city.  ...  Its  imposing  walls  are 
tumbling  down  and  its  moats  are  filling  up.  .  .  . 
In  the  centre  [of  the  grounds],  as  if  to  mark  conspicu- 
ously the  great  reformation  that  is  transforming  Japan, 
stands  the  academy  of  the  province,  with  its  faculty  of 
eleven  teachers  and  its  one  hundred  and  fifty  advanced 
scholars ;  while  in  the  city  of  only  ten  thousand  inhabit- 
ants are  four  large  common  schools,  with  some  eight 
hundred  scholars  and  with  scores  of  teachers.     .     .     . 

"  You  cannot  visit  one  of  these  schools  without  being 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  Japan  is  intensely  earnest 
in  the  study  of  modern  sciences,  and  that  through  the 
English  language.  You  have  doubtless  heard  that 
after  canvassing  the  merits  of  the  various  languages  of 
Western  nations,  Japan  has  at  last  formally  adopted 
English  as  the  one  to  be  taught  in  her  schools  and  used 
as  widely  as  possible  in  her  public  offices.  I  regard 
this  as  a  most  providential  step  in  Christianizing  this 
empire.  The  English  language  is  saturated  with  Chris- 
tian thought.  Peter  Parley  never  could  have  had  the 
remotest  idea  that  his  simple  '  Universal  History  '  would 
be  one  of  the  means  of  spreading  the  Jesus  Way  in 
this  far-off  nation  with  its  '  eight  hundred  thousand 
gods.'  Yet  a  physician,  recently  baptized  here,  said  to 
me  the  other  day,  '  The  reason  my  friend  the  lawyer 


138  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

doesn't  become  a  Christian  is  because  he  doesn't  know 
history.  If  he  could  read  Parley,  he  would  have  some- 
thing to  build  on.'  To  be  sure,  this  was  his  way  of 
modestly  telling  me  that  he  himself  had  read  Parley, 
but  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  Parley  is  one  of  our 
active  missionaries.  Some  two  months  ago,  while 
spending  a  night  a  hundred  miles  from  here  in  a  hotel, 
two  or  three  of  us  were  talking  together  about  Chris- 
tianity. Now  a  Japanese  hotel  is  simply  a  great  hall 
divided  into  little  rooms  by  paper  slides,  so  that  no 
room  can  be  fastened,  and  each  one  opens  into  every 
adjoining  room  and  privacy  is  utterly  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Conversation  is  heard  as  easily  by  the  neighbours 
as  by  the  one  to  whom  you  are  talking.  So  of  course 
our  words  were  heard  by  the  young  fellow  who  had 
the  adjoining  room,  and  wanting  to  see  as  well  as  to 
hear,  he  pushed  aside  his  paper  door  and,  bowing  clear 
to  the  floor,  politely  begged  the  privilege  of  sitting  on 
the  edge  of  our  room  and  listening  to  the  talk.  We 
invited  him  to  come  right  into  our  circle  where  he 
could  warm  his  hands  over  our  fire-bowl,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  talk  he  asked  me  the  difference  between 
Lord,  and  God.  I  found  he  had  learned  the  words  from 
Parley's  history. 

"  Do  not  think,  however,  that  Young  Japan  is  eager 
to  embrace  Christianity.  On  the  contrary,  the  young 
men,  seeing  the  inconsistencies  that  exist  between  the 
old  religions  of  Japan  and  modern  science,  have  broken 
so  violently  from  former  restraints  that  they  go  too  far, 
and  it  is  very  common  to  hear  them  say,  '  I  hate  re- 
ligion— all  religion.'  But  they  love  English,  and  are 
grateful  for  any  help  given  in  this  line.  Even  men  and 
women  in  middle  life  are  bending  over  their  English 


FUKLOUGH  AlsTD  KEADJUSTMENT         139 

primers,  longing  for  a  tithe  of  the  power  and  wisdom 
that  are  hidden  in  our  language.  Eager  policemen, 
when  off  duty,  study  A-B-C.  Judges  who  realize  their 
lack  of  knowledge  come  home  from  office  and  humbly 
sit  with  some  bright  schoolboy  and  receive  his  instruc- 
tion in  the  language  into  which  is  translated  all  the 
accumulated  best  wisdom  of  the  ages.  We  frequently 
meet,  among  these  lovers  of  English,  persons  well 
acquainted  with  the  sciences  and  having  the  Bible 
among  their  books,  but  without  any  curiosity  to  know 
the  power  of  Christianity.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to 
spend  two  hours  in  conversation  with  a  gentleman 
employed  in  one  of  the  provincial  academies.  He  is  an 
unusual  man  in  the  purity  of  his  morality,  and  his  love 
of  languages  extends  to  German  as  well  as  to  English. 
He  had  settled  quietly  into  the  belief  of  one  true  God, 
but  felt  no  need  of  pushing  religious  inquiry  any  further. 
I  tried  to  convince  him  that  '  if  there  be  one  God,  He 
must  be  your  Maker  and  Benefactor,  and  therefore  you 
as  an  individual  have  an  immediate  and  lifelong  duty 
with  reference  to  this  God.'  On  parting,  I  put  in  his 
hand  the  first  of  Dr.  McCosh's '  Philosophical  Series '  on 
i  Criteria  of  Diverse  Kinds  of  Truth.'  A  month  later  I 
received  a  full  letter  in  which  the  central  sentence  was, 
4 1  am  in  a  terrible  dilemma.  If  I  acknowledge  there 
is  only  one  God,  I  must  accept  the  religion  of  Jesus.' 

"  There  are  other  teachers,  thousands  of  them,  who 
are  devouring  English  as  a  means  of  self-advancement, 
many  of  whom  are  like  the  above  gentleman  in  that 
they  have  fairly  correct  habits  of  life ;  but  in  far  too 
many  cases  the  school-teachers  of  Japan  are  openly  and 
recklessly  impure.  They  have  no  religion.  .  .  . 
Though  many  of  them  are  fair  scholars  and  capable  in- 


140  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

structors  in  the  class-room,  they  are  awful  examples  for 
the  boys  and  girls  who  know  their  unblushing  lives.  Of 
course  there  is  no  reason  in  their  minds  why  they  should 
trouble  themselves  about  religion.  It  isn't  the  style 
here.  They  are  ready  enough  to  go  to  hear  preaching, 
provided  the  speaker  will  start  with  reason  and  stick  to 
reason.  Any  direct  appeal  to  Jesus  as  an  authority 
over  men  in  this  age  they  will  not  endure.  They  demand 
to  know  what  has  made  Jesus  an  authority  on  proper 
conduct.  If  the  speaker  can  bring  forward  the  central 
teachings  of  the  wisest  men  of  ancient  and  modern 
times, — men  who  spent  scores  of  years  in  trying  to  find 
truth, — and  in  the  spirit  of  fairness  contrast  the  mature 
and  unhesitating  words  of  Jesus,  who  was  unaided  by 
the  wisdom  of  the  schools  and  was  brutally  crucified 
while  yet  a  young  man,  they  will  listen  with  applause, 
and  marvel  at  the  wonderful  words  that  proceeded  from 
His  mouth.  Tell  them  that  every  claim  of  Jesus  is  so 
reasonable  that  our  great  General  Grant,  to  whom  tens 
of  thousands  surrendered  and  who  was  twice  elected 
president  of  fifty  millions  of  people,  in  the  fullness  of 
his  mental  vigour  and  while  the  recipient  of  the  praises 
of  every  civilized  nation  of  the  earth,  felt  his  need  of  a 
Saviour  and  in  humility  surrendered  to  this  Jesus,  rec- 
ognizing Him  as  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  ;  or, 
show  them  that  the  laws  of  nations  are  approaching 
one  standard  of  justice,  and  that  the  scholar  who  was 
twenty-five  years  president  of  Yale  and  whose  book  on 
international  law  has  placed  him  among  the  foremost 
thinkers  of  the  age,  has  always  been  a  devoted  disciple 
of  Jesus  ;  or  tell  them  that  '  during  a  session  of  the 
British  Association  at  Southport,  England,  there  was 
an  afternoon  meeting  for  devotion  and  prayer,  and  that 


FUKLOUGH  AND  READJUSTMENT         141 

four  out  of  the  six  calling  this  meeting  were  Fellows  of 
the  Royal  Society ' :  and  these  young  men  will  listen 
even  with  gratitude. 

"  They  will  endure  no  story  of  mere  miracle,  nor 
listen  to  pious  reflections  on  the  judgment  to  come.  I 
know  a  talented  young  editor  who  began  the  Gospel 
of  Mark,  but  when  he  struck  the  twenty-sixth  and 
thirty-first  verses,  he  flung  the  book  from  him  in  con- 
tempt. A  missionary  once  preached  on  invitation  be- 
fore an  audience  of  thoughtful,  but  skeptical,  Japanese, 
taking  as  his  subject  one  of  the  miracles  of  Christ. 
They  listened  politely  as  they  always  do,  and  they 
even  respectfully  escorted  the  preacher  part  way  home ; 
but  '  Tell  that  stuff  to  old  women,'  they  said  to  one 
another,  and  that  was  the  last  invitation  the  missionary 
had  from  that  audience.  Yet  if  a  speaker  will  offer, 
in  company  with  them,  to  reject  the  vast  majority  of 
reputed  miracles  in  past  ages,  and  then  show  that 
nevertheless  large  numbers  of  thoughtful  men — 
presidents  of  colleges,  professors  of  the  sciences,  and 
statesmen  who  direct  the  intricate  affairs  of  the  most 
progressive  nations  of  the  world — do  most  firmly  be- 
lieve in  a  few  miracles,  and  that  therefore  it  is  neither 
gentlemanly  nor  a  sign  of  large  brains  to  refer  these 
living  intellectual  leaders  to  i  old  women '  for  sym- 
pathy, these  lovers  of  our  Western  science  will  meekly 
accept  the  reproof  and  gladly  listen  to  the  end  of  the 
argument.     .     .     . 

"  You  see  by  this  the  condition  of  multitudes  of 
young  men  here.  I  am  purposely  giving  you  but  one 
side  of  the  picture,  but  it  is  the  conspicuous  one. 
Knowledge  is  demanded,  and  there  is  naturally  but 
little  power  to  discern    the  true  value  of  what    is 


142  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

offer  .  .  .  While  I  am  writing  this,  a  daily 
paper  (Japanese)  announces  a  meeting  to  be  held  in 
Kyoto  in  honour  of  Socrates  and  Kant.  That  much  is 
by  no  means  bad,  but  another  daily  also  announces 
that  in  Osaka  alone  there  are  now  under  arrest  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  persons  under  suspicion  of 
high  treason,  and  one  of  these,  a  leader  among  them, 
is  an  educated  lady  on  whose  person  were  found  ex- 
tracts from  Eousseau !  '  There  are  little  Mills  and 
Spencers  even  in  the  country,'  is  a  remark  now  and 
then  heard.  To  be  sure,  these  two  are  giants  in 
thought ;  but  I  submit  that  if  Japan  must  have  some- 
thing more  recent  than  John  or  Paul,  the  book  called 
'The  Human  Intellect,'  by  Porter,  and  the  stirring 
baccalaureates  of  your  retiring  president,  would  be  a 
far  better  foundation  for  this  people  just  emerging  into 
the  responsibilities  of  a  treaty  power. 

"  And  now,  in  closing,  let  me  ask  you  a  question : 
Why  don't  more  of  you  Yale  Seminary  men  come  out 
and  help  us  strike  heavy  blows  in  the  empires  of  the 
East  ?  If  a  dozen  of  your  graduating  class  should 
come  out  here,  the  pressure  on  the  churches  at  home  to 
fill  your  places  would  be  an  unqualified  blessing,  and 
the  United  States  would  suffer  no  more  loss  than  when 
she  gave  those  first  men  seventy-five  years  ago.  Ten 
or  twelve  of  you  now — a  band  of  Yale  men — could 
leave  a  stream  of  blessings  here  that  would  swell  to 
mighty  rivers  of  influence  in  generations  to  come. 
Come,  and  you  shall  have  all  the  trials  and  tribula- 
tions you  can  stand,  and  all  the  joy  and  glory  that 
come  through  suffering  for  Him  who  loved  us  and 
gave  Himself  for  us.  You  each,  if  you  want  it,  can 
have  exclusive  right  to  a  parish  of  half  a  million  ;  and 


FURLOUGH  AND  READJUSTMENT         143 

you  will  have  the  supreme  indifference  of  your  entire 
parish  till  you  win  by  your  politeness  and  love  and 
brain-power  your  right  to  have  your  say.  Come,  do 
come,  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  it  will  be 
yours  to  witness  a  more  powerful  religious  movement 
than  has  yet  been  recorded  among  the  victories  of  Him 
to  whom  every  knee  shall  bow. — But  another  thought 
comes  over  me  of  late — a  most  gloomy  one — that  un- 
less you  or  some  others  do  come  quickly  and  throw 
your  very  lives  into  showing  the  blessings  that  Christ 
only  can  give,  this  nation,  after  having  advanced  to 
where  the  promised  land  of  peace  and  joy  and  love  is 
in  full  sight,  may  drop  back  into  a  long  night  of  athe- 
istic philosophy.     .     .     . 

"  Our  Yale  brothers,  Professors  Learned,  Gaines,  and 
Cady  of  Kyoto  and  Dr.  Scudder  of  Migata,  if  they 
knew  of  my  writing,  would  certainly  send  you  Chris- 
tian greetings,  and  would  join  with  me  in  the  above 
question  :  Why  don't  you  come  ? 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

"J.  H.  Deforest." 


V 

The  Missionary  as  Educator 


"  The  soul  quickens  the  mind  to  its  most  complete 
fertility."-- Phillip  Brooks. 


THE  MISSIONABY  AS  EDUCATOE 

IN  1884  Mr.  Neesima,  being  in  precarious  health, 
was  sent  to  America  to  recuperate.  He  was  for  a 
time  at  Clifton  Springs ;  and  when  too  ill  to  be 
allowed  books,  he  had  the  solace  of  a  map  of  his  be- 
loved Japan  hanging  by  his  bedside.  As  he  gazed 
upon  it,  the  location  of  Sendai  impressed  him  as  strate- 
gic for  the  northeastern  part  of  the  empire ;  and  he 
whose  heart  was  bound  up  in  the  future  of  his  country 
as  a  part  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  set  his  desire  upon 
the  establishment  of  a  Christian  school  for  young  men 
in  that  centre. 

The  answer  to  his  prayer  was  in  preparation.  Some 
ten  years  before,  a  Japanese  from  Sendai,  Mr.  Tetsuno- 
suke  Tomita,  had  been  consul  in  New  York ;  and  the 
strong  moral  influence  he  found  exerted  by  the  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  America  made  on  him  one  of 
the  profoundest  impressions  received  during  his  sojourn 
there.  The  result  of  this  impression  was, — to  quote 
Mr.  DeForest's  account, — that  later,  "  while  serving  his 
country  as  vice-president  of  the  National  Bank  in 
Tokyo,  he  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  plan  for  a 
school  that  should  give  as  high  a  place  to  Christian 
morality  as  do  the  colleges  of  New  England.  He  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  organizing  a  company  to  erect 
school  buildings  and  equip  the  school  with  needed  na- 

147 


148  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

tive  teachers,  provided  some  missionary  board  would 
furnish  the  foreign  teachers.  The  tenth  anniversary  of 
the  Doshisha  in  Kyoto,  with  its  marvellous  conquest 
over  the  prejudices  of  the  old  capital,  brought  the 
names  of  Mr.  Keesima  and  the  America  Board  promi- 
nently before  those  Japanese  who  are  interested  in  edu- 
cational problems.  And  though  we  were  separated 
five  hundred  miles  from  Sendai,  other  boards  equally 
able  to  do  the  work  were  passed  over,  and  Mr.  Neesima 
was  asked  to  give  his  name  and  to  secure  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  American  Board  in  founding  a  Christian 
boys'  school.  This  unique  call  led  the  mission  to  send 
Mr.  Neesima  and  myself  to  Sendai  in  May  [1886]  to 
meet  the  promoters  of  this  movement,  and  to  hear  di- 
rectly from  them  all  their  plans." 

The  envoys  were  cordially  received,  and  were  invited 
by  Governor  Matsudaira  to  a  feast  with  heads  of  the 
governmental  departments  and  other  leading  citizens. 
The  diary  account  of  this  congenial  occasion  gives  a 
vivid  picture  that  may  be  considered  typical  of  many 
other  similar  dinners  of  later  date.  "  The  governor  is 
a  Niigata  man ;  pleasant,  jolly  fellow ;  has  son  in 
Switzerland.  Supper  till  nine  o'clock,  at  which  we 
told  stories  and  had  a  very  easy  and  dignified  time. 
The  governor  announced  that  five  thousand  yen  had 
been  pledged  for  the  school,  and  requested  "N eesima  to 
send  in  plans  at  once  for  buildings  for  fifty  boarders 
and  fifty  day  scholars.  ...  I  talked  of  United 
States  presidents,  the  two  who  were  assassinated,  about 
Grant's  reelection  by  previous  bargain, — which  they 
enjoyed  immensely ;  about  war  between  North  and 
South ;  and  asked  questions  about  Japan's  progress  in 
all  directions.     Made  music  with  finger-bowl,  and  all 


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H  I 

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3  I        3 1     >  1 

THE  MISSION AKY  AS  EDUCATOK         149 

followed  suit.  I  was  promised  a  permit  to  fish  salmon 
when  I  come  again.  Must  get  out  my  rusty  hooks  and 
flies." 

The  next  day  he  was  accompanied  by  some  of  his 
hosts  to  the  famous  mausoleum  of  Sendai — the  first  of 
many  pilgrimages  he  made  thither  in  after  years,  often 
himself  as  host.  On  the  small  toll-bridge  of  those 
days  they  crossed  the  river  that  winds  its  serpentine 
course  between  the  city  and  the  low  hills  bordering  it 
on  the  southwest.  Through  a  long  avenue  of  lofty 
cryptomerias  they  ascended  to  the  mausoleum  of  Date 
Masamune,  the  great  warrior  and  diplomat  daimyo  of 
Sendai,  famous  also  for  the  interest  that  he  at  one  time 
took  in  Christianity,  and  for  the  embassy  that  he  sent 
to  the  pope  at  Rome  in  1614.  "  At  his  death,"  runs 
the  diary  in  connection  with  this  visit  to  his  shrine, 
"  so  deep  a  hold  had  this  one-eyed  prince  on  the  affec- 
tions of  his  subjects  that  twenty  committed  harahiri  to 
accompany  their  lord  on  his  journey  into  the  unknown.1 
Such  love  and  reverence  !  The  people  that  have  it  in 
them  to  do  such  acts  voluntarily  and  with  joy  have  a 
future  history  and  a  place  among  the  nations  that  in- 
fluence the  world.  A  descendant  of  one  of  these  sui- 
cides (they  are  worthy  of  a  better  name) 2  is  the  keeper 
of  the  shrine." 

In  pleasant  companionship,  looking  over  the  ground, 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  missionaries  already  in 
the  city,  and  consulting  about  the  proposed  school,  the 
two  and  a  half  days  of  this  mission  to  Sendai  passed 
quickly.     "  The    Christian    basis    of    the  school   was 

1  Their  graves  are  placed  around  his  own. 

2  The  Japanese,  indeed,  use  a  special  term  to  designate  this  kind  of 
death. 


150  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

assured,"  continues  the  report,  "  in  the  liberty  of  morn- 
ing prayers  and  in  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  as  one  of 
the  text-books  of  the  school.  There  was,  however,  one 
objection  to  our  entering  upon  this  work,  namely,  the 
fact  that  it  interfered  with  the  plans  of  the  Kev.  Masa- 
yoshi  Oshikawa,  one  of  the  ablest  leaders  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  in  Japan.  He  had  been  labouring  for 
years  in  this  city,  at  first  under  heavy  obstacles,  but 
had  gradually  won  the  confidence  of  many  prominent 
citizens,  and  had  established  a  very  flourishing  inde- 
pendent church  without  any  direct  missionary  co- 
operation. Seeing  the  many  advantages  of  working 
with  missionaries,  he  joined  the  Presbyterians,1  and 
began  to  plan  for  both  a  boys'  and  a  girls'  school  just 
about  the  time  that  Mr.  Tomita  was  conferring  with 
Mr.  JSTeesima.  As  there  could  be  no  need  of  two  Chris- 
tian schools  in  Sendai,  which  would  be  at  once  forced 
into  rivalry,  we  proposed  that  the  burden  of  settlement 
should  be  left  to  Messrs.  Neeshna  and  Oshikawa.  We 
were  confident  that  Mr.  Oshikawa  with  the  Presby- 
terians was  fully  able  to  carry  to  success  any  edu- 
cational movement,  and  his  long  labours  and  successes 
entitled  him  to  the  first  chance.  But  after  full  and 
prolonged  inquiry  covering  several  months,  it  became 
evident  that  the  men  who  desired  to  open  this  school, 
while  they  recognized  Mr.  Oshikawa's  good  work  and 
his  ability,  insisted  on  having  at  the  head  of  the  school 
a  name  known  all  through  Japan,  one  as  familiar  in 
the  Emperor's  cabinet  as  in  the  churches, — Mr.  Nee- 
sima's.     We  saw  then  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 

1  More  correctly,  the  mission  of  the  Reformed  Churoh  in  the  United 
States  (German),  one  of  the  missions  cooperating  with  the  Presby- 
terians in  Japan. 


THE  MISSIONAKY  AS  EDUCATOE         151 

turn  over  to  Mr.  Oshikawa  the  large  offer  that  had 
come  to  us." 

The  diary  shows  how  vital  the  decision  was  to  all 
concerned.  "  June  3d. — At  last  the  whole  card  is 
played.  Have  been  to  dinner  with  Hoy l  and  Oshi- 
kawa, and  again  showed  them  how  I  had  tried  to  do 
as  I  would  be  done  by  in  all  these  negotiations,  and 
had  kept  their  interests  steadily  before  our  men.  But 
now  that  the  movement  had  come  to  us  unsolicited  and 
we  were  willing  for  union,  yet  because  of  the  obstacles, 
it  seemed  wise  to  accept  what  we  could  not  turn  over. 
Of  course,  I  should  have  to  report  to  my  mission  before 
final  action  was  taken.  Then  Oshikawa  opened  his 
whole  heart  to  me  in  a  very  affecting  and  Christian 
manner.  He  had  approached  the  governor,  Tomita, 
and  Matsukura,  and  all  had  told  him  that  a  united 
movement  would  be  a  good  thing  ;  but  since  union  just 
now  seemed  to  be  fraught  with  difficulties  and  might 
do  harm,  he  had  decided  to  withdraw  entirely,  give  up 
the  hope  of  his  heart,  and  wished  us  all  success  in  the 
great  call  we  had  received.  Hoy  followed  in  the  same 
strain,  not  concealing  his  disappointment,  but  believing 
we  are  all  led  by  the  same  Master  and  that  His  leading 
can't  bring  us  to  strife.  It  was  a  tearful  occasion,  a 
sad  kind  of  victory  for  me.  But  I  felt  that  our 
hearts  were  then  and  there  united  in  one  Master, 
and  that  our  hopes  and  disappointments  were  in  His 
hand." 

The  envoys  reported  to  the  mission  the  development 
of  the  situation  in  Sendai.  The  mission  then  voted  to 
send  Mr.  DeForest  there,  "  not " — as  he  expressed  it — 

1  Rev.  William  E.  Hoy,  of  the  German  Reformed  Mission,  later  the 
pioneer  of  his  denomination  in  China. 


152  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

"  to  be  tied  up  in  school  work,  but  to  help  get  things 
going,  and  then  to  be  a  rover  in  North  Japan,  helping 
in  the  new  movements  that  are  springing  up  all  along 
the  northern  line."  There  is  a  tradition  that  when  the 
call  came  to  go  to  this  new  field  of  work,  Mr.  DeForest 
said,  "  Here  am  I ;  send  I"  This  story  may  be  apocry- 
phal, but  it  has  a  phonetic  value :  it  will  dispel  any 
doubt  about  how  to  pronounce  the  name  of  the  place 
in  question.  Now  a  city  of  a  hundred  thousand  in- 
habitants, it  had  then  only  fifty  thousand  ;  but  it  was 
already  the  military,  civic,  and  commercial  centre  of  a 
large  territory. 

The  railroad  had  not  yet  been  put  through,  and  the 
journey  thither  had  to  be  taken  by  stage-coach  or 
coasting  steamer.  In  spite  of  the  danger  of  September 
typhoons,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  DeForest,  with  four  small 
children,  chose  the  latter  form  of  conveyance.  They 
met  two  severe  storms  that  not  only  delayed  their 
journey,  but  imperilled  their  safety.  "  We  passed  an 
anxious  night,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest  to  his  mother, 
after  describing  the  storm,  "  and  I  felt  we  might  never 
see  shore  again.  .  .  .  But  our  perilous  voyage  is 
over.  We  are  deeply  grateful  to  our  Father  for  His 
kind  care  over  us.  I  hope  our  safety  means  that  He 
has  yet  much  work  for  us  to  do  before  He  calls  us 
home,  and  that  He  will  abundantly  enable  us  to  glorify 
Him  in  our  home,  our  hearts,  our  children,  our  friends, 
and  our  work."  As  Shiogama,  the  port  of  Sendai,  was 
closed  on  account  of  cholera,  they  landed  farther  up 
the  coast  and  took  the  remainder  of  the  journey  to 
Sendai  by  jinrikisha.  "We  found  a  Japanese  house 
waiting  for  us,  and  as  it  is  unfit  for  foreigners  to  live 
in,  we  are  tearing  up  drains  and  fitting  it  up  so  as  to 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         153 

keep  out  the  winter  cold."  (By  the  second  winter, 
mission  houses  had  been  erected.) 

The  work  for  which  they  had  come  began  at  once. 
"  The  Sendai  friends  " — to  quote  the  report  of  the  new 
station — "  were  eager  to  start  the  school  as  soon  as 
possible;  and  so  we  opened  the  eleventh  of  October 
with  pretty  much  everything  temporary.  Two 
wretched  shanties,  hardly  deserving  of  the  word 
6  temporary,'  were  fixed  up  for  the  reception  of  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  scholars,  a  temporary  course  of 
study  for  two  years  preparatory  and  five  years  academic 
was  marked  out,  and  a  temporary  board  of  trustees  had 
the  school  in  charge,  while  the  teachers  put  up  in 
earthly  tabernacles  that  threatened  to  be  dissolved 
more  than  once  through  the  winter." 

In  spite  of  such  small  obstacles,  the  school  grew. 
The  acting  principal,  Mr.  Morihiro  Ichihara,  who  had 
been  generously  given  up  by  the  Doshisha  on  behalf  of 
Sendai,  was  a  young  man  of  unusual  ability,  eloquence, 
and  Christian  enthusiasm.  With  him  was  a  faculty  of 
six  Japanese,  two  of  whom  were  from  the  Doshisha 
and  five  of  whom  were  Christians ;  and  two  Americans, 
Mr.  DeForest  and  Kev.  George  Allchin,  who  was  lent 
by  the  Osaka  Station  for  two  months  until  released  by 
the  arrival  of  Eev.  W.  W.  Curtis  and  Rev.  F.  N. 
White  from  America.  JSTone  of  the  trustees  of  the 
school  at  its  start  were  Christians,  and  the  experimental 
nature  of  "  this  union  of  a  Christian  faculty  and  a  non- 
Christian  board  of  trustees  to  form  a  Christian  school " 
was  clearly  recognized  by  at  least  the  missionaries  con- 
nected with  it.  But  the  genuine  and  open  Christian 
character  of  the  school  and  its  instruction  was  not  com- 
promised   by  this  connection.     The  voluntary  Bible 


154  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

classes  were  well  attended ;  students  began  to  ask  for 
baptism ;  the  teachers  took  aggressive  part  in  city 
evangelistic  work  ;  at  the  request  of  influential  citizens, 
a  night  school  was  opened  in  December,  bringing 
within  range  of  the  hearing  of  Christianity  numbers  of 
merchants,  officials,  army  officers,  and  members  of  the 
legislature.  A  Sunday  school  and  a  preaching  service 
were  among  the  first  work  started,  in  a  Buddhist  tem- 
ple that  had  been  lying  unused  and  was  rented  to  the 
Christians. 

The  next  step  was  the  founding  of  a  church  early  in 
the  following  spring.  "  On  March  13,  [1887],  we  or- 
ganized our  little  church  in  the  Buddhist  temple.  I 
baptized  six  young  men,  all  belonging  to  our  school ; 
and  they  knelt  on  the  platform  where  once  the  great 
Amida  received  the  worship  of  his  believers.  .  .  . 
Besides  the  six  new  brothers,  there  were  fourteen  resi- 
dent Christians  who  united  by  letter." 

In  June  came  the  formal  opening  of  the  school,  with 
the  dedication  of  its  permanent  buildings.  These  were 
a  dormitory  and  a  neat  two-story  recitation  hall,  bear- 
ing on  its  white  gable  front  in  brave  black  letters  the 
motto  that  the  Japanese  had  chosen  for  it :  "  Seek 
Truth  and  Do  Good."  The  exercises  were  a  striking 
illustration  of  how  the  common  cause  of  education 
could  bring  together  many  men  of  differing  ranks  and 
creeds.  Mayor  Jumonji  presided;  Governor  Matsu- 
daira  as  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  Dr.  Neesima 
as  principal,  Mr.  Tomita  as  promoter,  and  Mr.  DeFor- 
est  as  trustee  recently  elected  to  represent  the  mission- 
ary element,  had  each  his  different  message.  The 
governor,  as  reported  by  Mr.  Curtis,  gave  the  origin  of 
the  name  of  the  school :  "  Governor  Matsudaira  in  his 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         155 

able  address  told  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  this  region 
a  thousand  years  ago,  and  how  a  poet,  thinking  it  a 
good  omen  for  the  reigning  dynasty,  wrote  the  lines  : 

"  *To  augment  the  glory  of  the  royal  dynasty 
In  the  mountains  of  the  East  gold  blossomed. ' 

"  The  name  of  this  school,  Tokwa, '  Eastern  Blossom,' 
is  taken  from  the  poem,  but  it  is  not  in  a  boastful  spirit 
that  the  name  is  adopted  ;  it  is  simply  with  the  thought 
that  the  school  so  founded — by  the  voluntary  contribu- 
tions of  the  people — is  a  sign  of  the  times  showing  the  ad- 
vance of  civilization  in  this  Meiji  dynasty.  .  .  .  He 
closed  with  the  thought  that  since  '  education  is  the 
mother  of  happiness,'  this  school  may  be  most  truly 
likened  to  gold  blossoms." 

The  propitious  opening  of  the  school  and  the  general 
favour  it  received  were  in  one  way  echoes  of  a  public 
sentiment  voiced  in  Tokyo  by  the  great  educator, 
Fukuzawa,  and  spreading  thence  through  the  empire. 
This  is  what  happened  in  Sendai :  "  The  daily  paper 
here  has  recently  published  two  editorials  on  Christian- 
ity, urging  all  young  men  to  press  forward  and  be  bap- 
tized, and  become  openly  members  of  churches;  as- 
serting, however,  that  real  belief  is  unnecessary — '  only 
become  nominal  Christians,  and  that's  enough.'  Our 
scholars,  at  least,  know  that  no  one  can  successfully 
play  that  game.  Mr.  Ichihara,  in  his  most  impressive 
vein,  begged  the  boys  always  to  be  true  to  their  con- 
victions and  never  follow  such  shallow  advice.  '  Bet- 
ter have  a  whole  school  of  avowed  infidels  than  liars 
and  hypocrites,'  was  the  substance  of  his  twenty-five 
minutes'  talk  to  a  hundred  and  forty  boys." 


156  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

The  openings  for  direct  Christian  work  among  the 
students  and  their  homes  were  far  more  than  could  be 
entered  by  the  little  band  of  workers  in  those  first 
years.  "While  waiting  for  reinforcements  to  release 
him  from  routine  school  work  for  the  evangelistic  op- 
portunities of  the  city  and  the  country  "  for  a  hundred 
miles  around,"  Mr.  DeForest  was  filled  with  a  vision  of 
the  great  possibilities  in  Christian  educational  work. 
Professor  Toyama  of  the  Imperial  University  had  pub- 
lished among  other  articles  one  advocating  the  estab- 
lishment of  girls'  schools  well  provided  with  foreign 
teachers  ;  while  criticizing  the  usual  evangelistic  method 
of  missionary  work,  he  declared  such  schools  to  be  the 
most  likely  means  of  rapid  and  extensive  Christianiza- 
tion.  To  this  Mr.  DeForest  replied  in  an  open  letter 
in  the  Japan  Mail :  "  The  people  of  every  non-Chris- 
tian land  have  the  right  to  say  freely  how  they  would 
like  to  have  missionaries  work,  and  of  course  mission- 
aries have  the  right  to  listen  or  not  to  the  suggestions 
that  may  be  made.  But  if  they  are  wise  men  and 
women,  they  will  not  waste  their  strength  in  working 
on  lines  that  create  only  a  prejudice  against  both  them- 
selves and  their  religion  ;  rather  they  will  gladly  em- 
brace every  opportunity  of  removing  existing  prejudice 
by  encouraging  the  suggestions  of  thinking  people 
among  whom  they  are  working." 

Just  such  an  opportunity  of  removing  prejudice  and 
winning  confidence,  also  of  training  Japanese  Christian 
leaders  and  building  up  the  Christian  church,  seemed  to 
be  open  to  the  missionaries  through  Christian  education ; 
and  this  thought  filled  to  overflowing  the  correspondence 
of  1887:  "  The  great  responsibility  is  on  us  of  making 
a  better  English  school  than  any  government  school 


THE  MISSION AEY  AS  EDUCATOE         157 

north  of  Tokyo.  We  believe  we  are  doing  it,  and  we 
believe  in  no  other  way  could  we  possibly  do  nearly  so 
much  for  Christ.  The  great  break  in  favour  of  Chris- 
tianity is  about  to  take  place.  .  .  .  Now  is  the 
accepted  time,  and  education  is  the  great  means  God 
has  put  in  our  hands  by  which  to  reach  the  people. 
.  .  .  I  believe  the  time  is  at  hand  to  devise  some 
new  plans  for  the  evangelization  of  Japan.  The  present 
way  of  doing  things  does  not  begin  to  keep  up  with  the 
open  doors.  The  work  of  the  boards  is  indeed  a  grand 
one,  but  I  begin  to  believe  it  must  be  supplemented  by 
several  new  methods.  The  time  has  come  for  Christian 
young  men  to  offer  their  services  for  a  short  period  of 
years  at  a  rate  within  the  means  of  this  nation,  and  a 
society  of  some  kind  should  be  formed  to  supply  any 
deficiency  arising  from  travelling  expenses,  etc.  .  .  . 
Now  the  thought  in  my  mind,  aroused  by  Wishard's 
letter  from  Moody's  summer  school,  is  something  like 
this :  Let  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  come 
in  to  supplement  the  boards  by  sending  us  young  men, 
graduates  of  our  colleges,  for  a  period  of  three  years  in 
such  schools  as  missionaries  may  advise,  where  their 
work  would  fasten  right  on  to,  and  immensely  help,  the 
Christian  work  now  going  on.  .  .  .  The  Christians 
of  America  must  be  somehow  aroused  to  see  this  fact : 
that  there  is  no  way  in  which  Japan  can  be  so  rapidly 
evangelized  as  by  putting  two  Christian  teachers  into 
every  city  of  twenty  thousand  people  to  do  educational 
work  in  connection  with  the  boards  already  at  work 
there.  ...  If  this  plan  won't  do,  is  there  any 
better  one  ?  I  firmly  believe  none  other  will,  but  some 
grand  educational  work  tied  together  with  the  regular 
missionary.    As  in  the  war  three-months  men  were 


158  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

needed,  so  now  we  need  three-years  men :  let  them 
enlist."  "The  Christians  of  America  ought  to  find 
some  way  to  give  Japan  a  Christian  education.  This, 
and  nothing  less  than  this,  will  ensure  the  firm  establish- 
ment of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  at  an  early  day." 

Fired  with  this  vision,  he  consulted  with  Japanese 
Christian  leaders  and  fellow-missionaries,  who  heartily 
agreed  with  his  main  proposition.  He  called  on  officials 
in  Kyoto  and  Osaka  in  the  summer  vacation,  and  found 
that  they  too  favoured  the  plan.  A  committee  was 
formed  to  head  the  movement.  Lengthy  letters  and 
cablegrams  to  and  from  Japan  and  the  American  Board 
and  Mr.  Moody  brought  out  the  difficulties  of  coming 
to  an  immediate  arrangement  at  such  a  long  distance  ; 
how  to  finance  the  journey,  how  to  guarantee  positions 
after  landing,  how  to  secure  suitable  middlemen  or  a 
permanent  committee  of  arrangements,  were  some  of 
the  questions  that  arose  and  at  times  threatened  to 
overthrow  the  movement.  To  one  partial  rebuff  from 
the  Board,  Mr.  DeForest  responded :  "  Like  a  mild, 
submissive  youth,  I  take  to  heart  your  kind  scolding 
and  suggestion  that  Allchin  and  I  have  been  a  little 
'  previous.'  Don't  think  you  can  restrain  me  without 
more  vigorous  English.  I  supposed  I  was  sent  here  to 
be  previous  ;  and  until  further  instructions  I  hope  to 
keep  so  far  ahead  that  you  will  need  a  telescope  to  keep 
in  sight.  Eeally,  in  the  grandest  opening  for  Christian 
work  ever  known,  I  feel  a  sort  of  right  to  assume  that 
some  existing  agency  can  be  used,  or  some  new  one 
created,  to  step  into  such  an  absolutely  essential  supple- 
mental work  as  providing  Christian  teachers." 

Delay,  however,  did  not  mean  failure.  Neither  the 
Board  nor  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 


THE  MISSION AEY  AS  EDUCATOB         159 

ready  to  undertake  the  task  ;  but  as  a  compromise  the 
"  Foreign  Educational  Committee  "  was  formed  in  New 
York  before  the  year  was  out ;  an  interdenominational 
committee  of  missionaries  cooperated  with  them  as 
advisers  at  the  Japan  end;  and  early  in  1888  Mr. 
DeForest  could  write  joyfully  :  "  The  Teachers'  Move- 
ment has  begun  with  three  royal  boys.  If  it  goes  on, 
it  will  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  side-helps  to  mission 
work  that  can  possibly  be  set  going.  None  are  accepted 
but  such  as  have  a  real  missionary  spirit — no  '  picnic ' 
chaps  can  pass  the  committee." 

This  movement  was  indeed  one  of  great  promise. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  rise  of  an  anti-foreign  spirit  in 
Japan  within  a  year  after  its  inception,  it  might  have 
lived  to  do  more  than  seven  years  of  work  through  the 
fifteen  teachers  it  sent  out.  But  it  was  the  parent  of 
the  later  large  and  successful  organization  known  as  the 
"  Association  Teacher  Movement  in  Japan  "  ;  and  its 
fruit  cannot  be  measured  by  its  years  or  its  statistics. 

During  the  years  of  school  work  in  Sendai,  it  was 
but  natural  that  Mr.  DeForest's  thought  should  turn 
with  new  emphasis  to  the  possibilities  of  various  edu- 
cational lines  of  work.  In  addition  to  the  movement 
for  securing  Christian  American  teachers  for  Japanese 
boys'  schools,  there  were  other  "  supplementary  meth- 
ods "  of  Christian  work  that  he  felt  were  necessary  to 
the  strengthening  and  the  educating,  as  well  as  the 
propagating,  of  the  young  church  in  Japan.  One  such 
method  was  the  extension  that  Professor  Toyama  had 
advocated  of  Christian  education  for  girls ;  not  so  much, 
however,  by  mission  schools,  as  by  schools  like  the 
Tokwa,  conducted  and  financed  by  the  Japanese  and 
aided  by  one  or  more  American  teachers.     The  historic 


160  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

example  of  this  kind  of  school  was  the  Baikwa  Girls' 
School  in  Osaka,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  founded 
by  the  independent  early  Christians  with  the  stimulus 
and  moral  support  of  Mr.  Leavitt.  The  extensive 
increase  in  this  sort  of  work  for  which  Mr.  DeForest 
pleaded  in  print  and  in  private  was  never  made.  But 
the  American  Board  mission,  whose  policy  perhaps 
suggested  the  plan,  has  worked  with  seven  such  schools 
in  centres  ranging  from  Kumamoto  to  Niigata. 

As  counterpart  of  these  plans  for  American  coopera- 
tors  in  Christian  education,  arose  the  desirability  of  col- 
lege or  special  courses  in  America  for  Japanese  pastors 
and  Christian  educators.  Mr.  DeForest  would  have  had 
opportunities  for  such  courses  abroad  put  upon  a  sys- 
tematic basis,  instead  of  having  their  attainability 
limited  to  good  fortune  or  the  power  to  obtain  assist- 
ance. While  non-Christian  young  men  in  large  num- 
bers were  sojourning  in  America  for  business  or  for 
study,  and  reporting  their  impressions  on  their  return 
to  Japan,  should  not  the  church  afford  its  representa- 
tives equal  advantages  in  seeing  at  first  hand  its  aims 
and  ideals  in  a  community  and  a  nation  professedly 
Christian  ?  He  believed  that  to  hold  out  the  promise 
of  graduate  courses  in  America  for  English-speaking 
pastors  and  evangelists  that  by  successful  labour  had 
won  the  confidence  of  their  neighbouring  churches  and 
of  the  missionaries  connected  with  them  "  would  not 
be  of  the  nature  of  a  bribe,  but  would  help  the  final 
decision  of  many  Christian  students  who  keenly  feel 
that  the  political  disabilities  that  rest  upon  all  relig- 
ious teachers,  Buddhist  and  Christian  alike,  narrow 
their  prospects  for  usefulness,  and  apprehend  that  the 
low  place  religious  teaching  holds  in  the  public  estima- 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         161 

tion  will  yet  more  hold  them  off  from  the  share  they 
long  to  have  in  moulding  the  future  of  their  country. 
Such  young  men  should  have  every  incentive  that 
Christian  helpfulness  can  extend  to  enable  them  to  win 
for  the  sacred  office  of  the  pastorate  a  national  recog- 
nition." Also  for  promising  young  teachers,  men  and 
women,  looking  forward  to  a  life  of  educational  work, 
would  he  have  a  similar  systematic  means  provided  for 
brief  courses  of  study  abroad.  He  felt  that  the  na- 
tional consciousness  of  the  Japanese,  disliking  to  be 
wholly  indebted  to  foreigners  or  supervised  by  them, 
would  not  long  permit  purely  mission  schools  to  pros- 
per ;  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Doshisha  School  and  the 
Meiji  Gakuin,  Tokyo,  the  Japanese  should  have  the 
lead ;  that  this  was  coming  about  much  more  rapidly 
and  naturally  in  boys'  schools  than  in  institutions  for 
girls,  owing  to  the  lesser  degree  of  advancement  in  the 
latter  ;  and  that  hence  a  special  opportunity  offered  it- 
self in  the  training  and  preparation  of  women  teachers 
of  marked  ability  and  consecration,  to  take  the  leader- 
ship when  the  opportunity  should  come. 

At  a  period  when  the  American  Board  was  suffering 
from  great  financial  stringency,  there  was  little  hope 
of  enlisting  its  support  for  such  movements  as  are  here 
suggested;  its  secretaries  sympathized,  but  could  act 
only  as  individuals  in  securing  the  cooperation  of  other 
individuals  for  the  help  of  individual  Japanese.  Thus 
the  impetus  of  these  expansive  visions  worked  itself 
out  in  the  use  of  personal  time  and  effort  for  the  few 
that  came  particularly  under  his  notice.  This,  after 
all,  better  embodied  the  spirit  of  his  proposals  than  any 
organization  dependent  upon  a  missionary  board  could 
have  done ;  for  he  had  no  mind  to  impose  denomina- 


162  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

tional  restrictions  upon  the  men  and  women  that  were 
to  be  thus  assisted.  He  would  have  had  Christians 
give  their  money  broadly,  without  considering  which 
sect  was  to  profit  most  by  the  additions  that  the  worker 
thus  educated  might  bring  to  the  church.  His  ideal  in 
this  line  found  its  best  expression  in  the  work  of  Miss 
Yoshi  Kajiro,  the  daughter  of  his  early  co-worker 
in  Osaka.  The  story  is  briefly  as  follows,  written 
in  1908 : 

"  When  I  first  went  to  Japan,  believing  in  education 
as  one  of  the  powerful  forces  that  extend  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ,  we  took  into  our  home  a  little  girl,  and 
educated  her  at  the  first  girls'  school  that  was  ever 
founded  by  Japanese  Christians.  It  was  called  the 
'  Plum  Blossom  Girls'  School'  [Baikwa].  In  time  our 
little  girl  was  graduated  and  was  offered  two  positions, 
one  as  the  helper  of  a  lady  missionary,  the  other  as  a 
teacher  in  a  small  girls'  school  in  the  city  of  Okayama. 
She  came  to  us  to  ask  which  offer  she  should  ac- 
cept. '  Don't  ever  be  a  helper  to  a  missionary  if  you 
can  get  any  other  work  where  you  can  use  your  Chris- 
tian influence,'  was  my  advice,  which  she  took ;  and 
thus  she  started  in  her  life-work  as  a  teacher.  Here 
she  showed  such  talent  that  various  missionaries  began 
to  covet  her ;  and  one  even  offered  her  a  college  educa- 
tion in  America,  provided  she  would  agree  to  teach  in 
his  denominational  school  when  she  returned  to  Japan. 
.  .  .  Our  little  girl  wrote  for  our  advice,  and  I 
again  cautioned  her  against  binding  herself  to  any 
missionary.  At  the  same  time  I  wrote  to  my  royal 
friend,  Dr.  A.  J.  Lyman  of  Brooklyn,  and  asked  if  he 
could  not  provide  some  way  to  put '  O  Yoshi '  into 
Mount  Holyoke;  and  he  did.     She   went  there  with 


THE  MISSIONABY  AS  EDUCATOK         163 

perfect  freedom  from  any  promise  of  future  work,  grad- 
uated with  honour,  and  in  time  returned  to  Japan. 
The  Plum  Blossom  School,  mission  schools,  and  even 
government  schools  wanted  her  services ;  but  with 
loyalty  to  her  first  school,  she  went  back  to  Okayama 
with  a  mere  pittance  of  a  salary,  determined  to  make 
her  work  a  power  in  the  moral  life  of  that  city."  So 
successful  was  she  in  building  up  the  school  in  both  at- 
tendance and  equipment,  that  she  was  later  appointed 
to  its  principalship — a  comparatively  rare  position  as 
yet  for  a  Japanese  woman.  She  has  clung  to  this 
school  in  spite  of  flattering  offers  from  other  and 
larger  institutions.  Her  strong  Christian  character 
and  her  lovableness  have  won  the  loyalty  of  her  pupils 
and  fellow-teachers,  and  the  voluntary  prayer-meetings 
and  Bible  instruction  are  a  live  part  of  her  work  in  an 
institution  where  government  recognition  excludes  the 
official  teaching  of  religion.  "  The  glory  of  Miss 
Kajiro's  work  is  that  it  is  not  Western  work  supported 
from  Boston  ;  but  it  is  one  of  those  glorious  develop- 
ments of  large  Christian  work  outside  of  missionary 
control,  bearing  the  lamp  of  life  where  no  missionary 
could  go,  and  helping  make  a  Christian  atmosphere  for 
the  homes  of  hundreds  of  girls,  and  for  the  city  in 
which  she  is  a  great  moral  power." 

Another  "  supplementary  method  "  that  Mr.  DeFor- 
est  promoted  was  that  of  securing  from  abroad  distin- 
guished specialists  for  lecture  courses  in  Japan.  It  was 
his  desire  that  the  church  should  organize  a  movement 
to  send  out  to  "  the  growing  numbers  of  English-speak- 
ing Japanese,  not  ministers  nor  missionaries,  who  are 
regarded  as  professionals  and  therefore  biased,  but 
Christian  lawyers,  historians,  geologists,  political  econo- 


164  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

mists,  statesmen,  and  educators,  who  have  no  title  of 
D.  D.  or  Reverend  that  must  be  discounted,  and  who 
shall  give  an  account  of  Christianity  from  their  stand- 
point by  means  of  annual  courses  of  lectures  in  Tokyo." 
He  argued  that  although  the  English  works  of  great 
Christian  thinkers  were  on  sale  in  Japan  and  were  as 
easily  read  by  Japanese  scholars  as  those  of  some  of  the 
brilliant  non-religious  philosophers  of  the  West,  still 
"  the  broad  and  deep  skeptical  current  and  the  indiffer- 
ence here  require  more  than  the  bloodless  page — they 
need  the  living  man  to  be,  as  of  old,  a  personal  witness 
to  the  power  of  Christ  and  of  His  resurrection." 

In  1889  Mr.  L.  D.  Wishard,  college  secretary  of  the 
Central  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  visited  Japan  to  note  the  pros- 
pects for  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  work  there, 
and  among  other  meetings  conducted  at  the  Doshishaa 
successful  summer  school  after  the  Northfield  plan,  at 
which  Mr.  DeForest  assisted,  going  to  Kyoto  "  on  the 
first  night  train  between  the  two  capitals."  This  sum- 
mer school,  he  thought,  furnished  the  needed  opportu- 
nity for  beginning  the  plan  of  yearly  inviting  some  dis- 
tinguished scholar  to  lecture  on  some  phase  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  he  hoped  that  the  Korthfield  School  would 
act  as  the  committee  in  America  for  such  arrangements. 
Although  this  did  not  prove  feasible,  the  summer  school 
as  an  institution  had  come  to  stay,  with  or  without  the 
assistance  of  speakers  from  abroad.  Under  various  other 
auspices  such  speakers  began  to  come.  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark 
made  a  Christian  Endeavour  trip  to  Japan,  from  which 
the  work  in  general  received  a  helpful  impulse.  Prof. 
George  T.  Ladd  of  Yale  came  at  the  invitation  of 
the  Doshisha  for  a  lecture  course.     The  value  of  the 


THE  MISSIONAKY  AS  EDUCATOB         165 

personal  touch  for  which  Mr.  De Forest  had  argued,  had 
striking  proof  in  the  spontaneous  statement  of  one  of 
Professor  Ladd's  Japanese  hearers :  "  I  admire  his  lec- 
tures on  account  of  their  logic  and  clearness  and  high- 
tonedness  of  their  thoughts — but  more  I  admire  him. 
If  I  did  nothing  but  hear  and  see  him  these  days,  it 
would  pay  me  for  spending  these  two  months  in  Kyoto." 

Lack  of  funds  prevented  the  Doshisha  from  further 
carrying  out  its  plan  for  an  annual  lecturer  from  abroad. 
Mr.  DeForest,  however,  asked  for  more  than  that  for 
the  Doshisha,  namely,  the  yearly  loan  of  a  professor 
from  America.  "  In  view  of  the  great  importance  of 
this  college,  and  the  hold  it  has  gained,  both  here  and 
in  the  hearts  of  the  Board  and  churches  and  seminaries 
at  home,  and  also  in  view  of  the  demand  on  the  part  of 
the  students  for  the  latest  researches  in  Biblical  knowl- 
edge, it  seems  to  me  that  our  seminaries  at  home  might 
gladly  loan  for  a  year  each  in  turn  a  young  professor 
who  has  studied  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States,  to  teach  theology  or  some  branch  of  it  in  the 
Doshisha.  The  advantages  seem  to  warrant  this  new 
step  in  missionary  science.  A  nation  like  this  must  have 
the  best  a  Christian  nation  can  give.  Even  at  home  a 
seminary  has  to  introduce  new  lecturers  every  year,  no 
matter  what  the  power  of  its  regular  faculty.  Much 
more  is  it  necessary  here,  where  the  act  would  link  the 
Doshisha  at  once  with  the  home  seminaries  and  churches 
as  nothing  else  could." 

Although  the  Doshisha  has  not  yet  had  its  loan  of  a 
professor  nor  its  annual  lecturer  from  abroad,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  expect  the  realization  of  these  or  similar 
hopes  in  the  expanding  future  of  the  university. 

Mr.  DeForest's  ideal  for  a  Christian  lectureship  for 


166  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

Japan  was  in  a  measure  realized  for  India  in  the  found- 
ing in  1894  of  the  Barrows-Haskell  Lectureship  as  a 
contribution  towards  the  sympathetic  presentation  of 
Christianity  in  that  country.  Japan  has  already  prof- 
ited from  time  to  time  by  this  lectureship,  when  its 
lecturers  have  included  the  island  empire  on  their 
journeys.  Without  an  organization  to  promote  the 
sending  of  lecturers  to  Japan,  the  coming  of  many  has 
in  these  days  been  naturally  brought  about  by  Japan's 
rise  in  the  family  of  nations,  and  by  those  developments 
that  have  so  largely  increased  American  travel  to  China 
and  the  Philippines.  Then,  too,  great  movements  like 
the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation,  the  Salva- 
tion Army,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  and 
organizations  for  promoting  international  peace,  have 
sent  their  leaders  to  Japan,  always  having  as  a  result 
that  inspiring  and  strengthening  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment that  Mr.  DeForest  so  eagerly  foresaw  from  such 
visits.  The  coming  of  such  men  as  John  R.  Mott, 
Borden  P.  Bowne,  George  Frederick  Wright,  Henry 
Churchill  King,  William  Jennings  Bryan,  David  Starr 
Jordan,  and  others,  was  to  his  mind  part  of  the  divine 
plan  in  the  leading  of  the  nation  to  a  knowledge  of 
God  and  Christ.  And  the  recent  establishment  on  the 
Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace  of  an  ex- 
change lectureship  between  Japan  and  the  United 
States,  sending  to  Japan  interpreters  of  the  best  in 
Christian  civilization,  is  another  fulfillment  of  his  vision. 
Supplementary  methods  did  not,  however,  keep  him 
from  emphasizing  his  main  work  of  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. When  he  could  get  away  from  school,  he  toured 
his  long  parish  from  Kanegasaki  on  the  north  to  Waka- 
matsu  on  the  south,  encouraging  the  local  evangelists, 


THE  MISSIONAKY  AS  EDUCATOB         167 

preaching,  teaching,  and  baptizing.  One  spring  tour 
took  him  to  j^iigata  :  "  I  had  a  hard  trip  of  four  hun- 
dred miles  across  four  ranges  of  mountains,  and  the 
snow  filled  the  passes  so  that  often  I  was  walking  on 
six  feet  of  snow.  Or  as  it  sometimes  happened,  the 
snow  gave  way  and  let  me  down  into  the  ditches  be- 
low. I  walked  about  twenty  miles  some  days,  and  my 
legs  were  very  well  used  up.  But  I  had  a  deligatfui 
time  with  friends,  spoke  to  four  theatre  audiences  and 
to  two  churches,  and  came  back  quite  tired,  especially 
as  I  rode  the  last  day  twenty-five  miles  in  a  jinrikisha, 
and  then  topped  off  with  fifty  miles  on  my  bicycle." 

In  Sendai,  besides  regular  church  services,  occasional 
theatre  preachings  were  held.  After  the  promulgation 
of  the  Constitution,  with  its  guarantee  of  religious 
liberty,  the  local  military  authorities  passed  a  majority 
vote  allowing  their  soldiers  to  study  Christianity  ;  thus 
a  new  field  of  activity  for  Bible  work  was  opened. 
"  Every  Sunday  now,"  wrote  Mr.  DeForest,  "  soldiers 
are  seen  in  our  audience :  at  the  last  communion  one 
stood  up  with  a  school-teacher  and  a  groceryman  to  re- 
ceive baptism  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Often  the  seed  sown  in 
Sendai  bore  fruit  elsewhere.  "  One  officer  with  his 
wife  was  expecting  soon  to  be  baptized  when  he  Avas 
taken  ill  and  died.  The  aged  father  from  Tokyo 
hurried  to  the  afflicted  home,  and  was  entreated  by 
the  widow  to  permit  a  Christian  funeral.  '  But,'  said 
he,  '  we  must  burn  the  body  and  take  the  ashes  to  our 
family  tomb  in  Tokyo  ;  and  does  your  religion  allow 
cremation  ?  '  She  could  not  answer  that,  but  sent  the 
inquiry  to  me.  As  many  of  the  noble  martyrs  had 
been  burned  while  the  flesh  was  living  without  im- 


168  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

perilling  their  hopes  of  the  resurrection,  I  saw  no  ob- 
jection to  burning  a  believer's  dead  body,  and  was 
therefore  asked  to  take  charge  of  the  funeral.  The 
next  day  the  father  took  the  family  to  Tokyo,  where 
at  the  following  communion  the  widow  was  baptized." 
There  she  afterwards  said  to  the  missionary,  "  I  have 
permission  to  attend  church  with  my  children,  and  also 
once  a  month  have  a  woman's  meeting  here  at  home. 
My  parents  too  are  reading  the  Bible,  and  mother  told 
sister  the  other  day  that  I  had  changed  much  and  for 
the  better."  Bits  of  work  for  convicts  in  prison  opened 
up  also  through  correspondence  and  the  sending  of 
Christian  literature. 

His  main  work,  however,  aside  from  preaching,  was  in 
his  Bible  classes  for  students.  "  I  tremble  with  joyful 
excitement  in  handling  these  young  men,"  he  wrote  of 
one  specially  responsive  group.  Of  a  Bible  class  of 
students  from  the  government  college,  he  wrote,  "  It 
is  about  the  hardest  work  I  have  to  do.  If  I  didn't 
believe  more  solidly  than  ever  in  Christ,  I  should  just 
have  to  pull  out  and  give  up  my  work.  But  the 
toughest  question  of  questions,  how  to  meet  educated 
Japanese  who  ask  you  to  prove  that  they  have  souls, 
has  kept  me  thinking  for  a  long  time." 

More  characteristic  than  this  question,  however,  was 
the  tendency  to  think  morality  all-sufficient  without 
religion.  The  Imperial  Eescript  on  Education,  issued 
in  1890  and  made  the  moral  basis  of  the  national  edu- 
cation from  that  time,  gave  sanction  to  this  tendency. 
The  way  it  was  received  is  shown  by  the  account  Mr. 
DeForest  gives  of  the  meeting  held  at  the  Tokwa 
School  in  celebration  of  it.  In  his  congratulatory 
address  on  that  occasion,  he  took  the  ground  "that 


THE  MISSIONABY  AS  EDUCATOK         169 

this  rescript,  being  the  first  ever  issued  from  the  throne 
on  a  moral  subject,  and  one  in  which  the  Emperor 
coupled  himself  with  his  people,  showed  that  the  olden 
times  were  gone  by  forever  and  that  the  Tenshi  ["  Son 
of  Heaven,"  i.  e.,  the  Emperor]  had  come  out  of  his 
seclusion  to  labour  openly  for  the  good  of  the  nation. 
I  took  the  occasion  to  say,"  he  continues,  "  that  while 
the  principles  of  morality  were  forever  the  same,  the 
methods  of  teaching  morals  must  vary  with  every  ad- 
vance of  knowledge  and  with  every  onward  move  of 
a  nation.  The  governor  followed,  asserting  that  it  was 
not  the  object  of  this  rescript  to  advocate  a  return  to 
Shinto  ethics,  as  some  averred,  nor  a  backward  move- 
ment towards  Confucianism,  as  others  deprecatingly 
stated ;  but  that  the  times  demanded  even  the  words 
of  the  Emperor  to  call  the  people  everywhere  back  to 
the  principles  of  morality,  which  in  the  deluge  of 
Western  thought  had  been  largely  ignored  both  in 
practice  and  in  education. — It  seems  a  little  strange 
that  in  the  midst  of  the  national  excitement  of  opening 
the  first  parliament  a  brief  moral  treatise  from  the 
throne  should  have  aroused  so  much  discussion.  '  What 
is  it  for  ? '  was  widely  asked.  Some  boldly  interpreted 
it  to  mean  that  the  system  of  morality  Japan  already 
had  was  ample  and  that  there  was  no  need  of  anything 
more  in  that  line — even  though  it  be  Christian  morals. 
Many  Christians,  too,  felt  that  it  might  possibly  give  a 
blow  to  Christianity,  even  though  it  was  not  so  in- 
tended. That  it  has  weakened  the  backbone  of  a  few 
Christians  and  turned  away  some  who  were  studying  the 
Bible,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  that  under  a  consti- 
tution granting  religious  liberty  it  can  have  any  lasting 
interpretation  against  Christianity,  I  do  not  believe." 


170  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

The  following  illustration  of  the  necessity  of  religion 
as  the  dynamic  for  morality,  though  written  for 
American  readers,  will  show  how  he  presented  the 
matter  to  Japanese. 

"  [The  relation  of  Christ's  moral  teachings  to  re- 
ligion] is  well  seen  in  the  difference  between  Confucius' 
Golden  Eule  and  Christ's.  China's  great  moral  teacher 
says,  '  Do  not  unto  others  what  you  would  not  they 
should  do  to  you.'  If  you  ask  how  this  differs  from 
Christ's  Golden  Eule,  you  will  be  sure  to  get  the  poor 
and  insufficient  answer,  *  One  is  negative,  the  other  is 
positive.'  If  the  Golden  Eule  as  Christ  taught  it  were 
only  known  by  Christians  as  well  as  the  disciples  of 
Confucius  know  his  rule,  we  certainly  should  not  tarry 
to  explain  '  negative  '  and  '  positive.'  I  doubt  if  one 
Christian  in  a  hundred,  or  even  in  a  thousand,  can  re- 
peat Christ's  Golden  Eule  correctly.  I  have  tried  it 
with  audience  after  audience,  and  never  yet  have  found 
one  who  repeated  it  correctly.  They  all  say,  '  Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you  ; ' 
and  this  is  the  only  way  I  have  ever  seen  it  printed  on 
Sunday  school  cards,  or  heard  it  recited.  If  this  be  all 
that  Christ  taught,  He  gave  out  only  simple  morality ; 
and  if  He  taught  simple  morality,  He  surely  could 
not  have  expected  men  to  carry  out  so  impossible  a 
rule.  No ;  He  gave  this  moral  precept  based  on  the 
most  potent  religious  fact — the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
He  did  not  hang  it  in  mid-air ;  He  put  it  on  an  eternal 
foundation.  i  Because  God  is  your  Father,  therefore 
do  unto  others,'  etc.  If  God  the  Almighty  be  my 
Father  and  the  coolie's  Father,  the  white  man's  Father 
and  the  black  man's  Father,  then  we  have  a  mighty 
motive  that  drives  every  one  that  believes  it  to  carry 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         171 

out  that  rule.  Jesus  gave  us  morality,  but  He  glori- 
fied it  by  building  it  on  religion.     It  has  a  '  therefore.' 

"  While  Shaka  was  shaping  his  Five  Commandments, 
ignorant  of  a  personal  God,  Moses  was  bringing  down 
virtually  the  same  commands,  and  yet  not  at  all  the 
same.  For  Shaka's  are  pure  morality,  nothing  more. 
But  Moses'  are  morality  based  on  religion — five  com- 
mandments full  of  God :  the  one  God,  the  jealous  God, 
God  the  Creator,  God  the  Re  warder  ;  followed  by  five 
more  that  cannot  be  separated  from  their  religious 
foundation." 

Not  only  did  Mr.  DeForest  emphasize  the  necessity 
of  religion  as  the  basis  of  a  vital  morality,  but  he  taught 
his  students  the  necessity  of  active  Christian  service, 
and  the  danger  to  themselves  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
if  they  failed  to  be  aggressive  workers.  He  thus 
narrated  for  the  Japanese  Christian  press  his  experience 
with  young  Christians,  and  the  conclusion  he  had 
drawn  from  it : 

''Several  young  men  say,  'I  have  considered  this 
great  matter  and  have  concluded  to  work  all  my  life 
for  Christ ;  but  I  am  not  fitted  for  direct  work,  so  I 
will  work  indirectly.'  Now  this  word  indirect  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  greatest  enemies  to  the  Christian 
cause.  .  .  .  Among  young  men  of  my  acquaint- 
ance who  two  or  three  years  ago  were  earnest  in 
Sunday  school  and  church  work,  who  loved  the  Bible 
and  the  prayer-meeting,  there  are  some  who  seemed  to 
me  especially  fitted  and  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
become  pastors  and  evangelists.  When  spoken  to 
about  this,  they  reflected  and  even  prayed  about  it, 
and  said  they  surely  would  work  all  their  lives  for 
Christ,  but  thought  it  best  to  work  indirectly,  instead 


172  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

of  in  the  pastorate  or  as  evangelists.  At  first  I  did  not 
know  how  to  reply,  and  thought  perhaps  they  were 
right.  But  now  some  of  them  have  lost  their  interest 
in  Sunday  school  and  prayer-meeting  and  do  not  invite 
friends  any  more  to  church  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  have 
often  to  be  invited  to  attend  church.  They  used  to 
contribute  gladly  to  the  pastor's  salary,  but  now  neglect 
the  pastor's  support,  and  have  lost  even  the  idea  of 
indirect  work. 

"  Seeing  this  self-deception  by  means  of  the  word 
'  indirect,'  is  it  not  well  to  fight  this  word  and  drive  it 
out  of  the  hearts  and  minds  of  young  men?  Did 
Christ  ever  use  it  to  His  disciples  ?  Never.  How 
strange  it  would  sound  to  hear  Jesus  exhort  His 
disciples :  '  Let  your  light  shine — indirectly  ;  '  or,  '  Take 
up  your  cross  and  follow  Me  indirectly  !  '  And  when 
He  left  His  great  and  final  message,  He  did  not  say, 
'  Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  to  every  one  in- 
directly.'* No  ;  this  word  is  the  enemy  of  all  great  and 
noble  life-work.  It  often  means  simply  making  one's 
own  plans  the  first  thing,  and  Christianity  second  ;  it 
means  working  without  zeal  instead  of  earnestly.  Of 
course  there  must  be  Christian  editors,  teachers,  lawyers, 
merchants,  wives ;  and  they  are  all  needed  for  direct 
Christian  work.  .  .  .  The  word  *  indirect '  has  its 
proper  place,  and  in  that  place  has  a  good  meaning. 
We  use  it  correctly  concerning  results,  but  never  con- 
cerning duty.  .  .  .  Whatever  a  Christianas  occupa- 
tion, his  work  for  Christ  should  always  be  direct,  open, 
earnest." 

One  of  his  chief  thought-centres  in  these  school  years 
was  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  "  There  are  many 
hard  up-hills  in  mission  work,"  he  wrote  to  a  brother. 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         173 

"Many  of  the  more  thoughtful  people  resist,  and 
naturally  too,  the  accepting  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God. 
They  will  yield  after  a  while,  I  believe;  but  to 
preach  the  resurrection  here  requires  more  mental  and 
spiritual  strength  than  it  does  at  home.  I  have  to 
divide  carefully  historical  evidence  from  moral  evi- 
dence, and  have  to  show  a  closer  reason  for  everything 
here  than  at  home.  Does  me  good,  though.  I  see  as 
never  before  that  Christianity  is  on  an  invincible 
basis."  This  study  of  the  resurrection  involved  the 
correlating  of  several  years  of  reading  and  thought  on 
philosophy  and  history,  the  results  of  which  he  put 
forth  in  a  Japanese  book,  treating  of  the  historical 
evidence  for  the  resurrection,  and  the  relation  of  the 
resurrection  to  miracles,  to  the  great  plan  of  history,  to 
immortality,  to  literature,  laws,  morality,  liberty,  and 
practical  life.  His  own  faith  in  the  resurrection  was 
not  only  strengthened  and  deepened  by  this  study,  but 
also  brought  into  relation  to  his  own  life  in  a  new  way, 
colouring  his  work  thereafter  with  an  ever-growing 
optimism.  "I  preached  twice  yesterday,  and  my 
morning  sermon  on  the  '  Resurrection  of  Us  All '  so 
touched  a  school-teacher  that  he  requested  baptism. 
He  had  been  hearing  Christianity  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
and  as  he  urged  me  to  baptize  him  in  remembrance  of 
the  day  in  which  he  decided  to  serve  Christ,  I  con- 
sented.— I  am  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of  the 
future  life.  I  begin  to  realize  that  death  to  the  Chris- 
tian is  a  joyful  and  magnificent  blessing ;  and  I  am  so 
preaching  it  as  the  greatest  motive  to  a  pure  and  self- 
denying  life."  "In  my  early  days  I  used  to  hear  a 
great  deal  about  rest  in  heaven,  a  sort  of  eternal  rest. 
But  now  I  believe  in  eternal  work  and  new  acquisitions, 


174  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

and  progress  that  never  wearies  one.  Not  to  grow  in 
the  other  life  would  be  a  sort  of  hell  for  me ;  and  I'm 
looking  forward  to  the  same  kind  of  joy,  but  better  far 
than  that  we  have  here,  in  gaining  new  truth.  God's 
truth  is  endless,  and  to  have  the  privilege  of  that 
ocean  of  truth  and  life  and  love — that  is  heaven." 

Not  only  in  regard  to  the  resurrection  did  his 
philosophic  studies  strengthen  his  Christian  faith. 
They  bore  similar  fruit  in  connection  with  pantheism. 
Of  a  Japanese  article  that  he  published  on  "  The 
Influence  of  Pantheism,"  he  wrote :  "  It  is  the  result 
of  a  year's  study,  and  I  hope  will  arouse  thought  in 
others  as  it  has  in  me.  The  Christian  religion  never 
seemed  so  glorious  as  it  does  in  contrast  with  the 
pessimism  of  pantheism." 

His  contact  with  student  life  afforded  him  constant 
opportunity  to  give  out  the  knowledge  he  was  contin- 
ually absorbing  from  books  and  from  life.  The  morn- 
ing chapel  exercises  called  for  brief  addresses  on  sub- 
jects helpful  in  character-building.  Into  these  he  put 
his  best  thought,  and  the  inspiration  of  his  eager 
audience  made  the  chapel  talks  one  of  his  keenest 
pleasures.  After  the  school  closed,  some  of  these  talks 
were  published  in  a  volume  dedicated  to  his  former 
pupils.  There  are  biographical  talks  on  George  Wash- 
ington, Sister  Dora,  Lord  Macaulay ;  there  are  histor- 
ical, social,  scientific,  philosophical  subjects,  starting 
from  some  familiar  point  of  departure  :  "  I  am,"  one  of 
the  earliest  phrases  acquired  in  learning  English,  be- 
comes the  text  for  a  little  discourse  on  the  modern 
philosophy  that  emphasizes  the  dignity  and  freedom  of 
the  individual,  and  on  the  religion  that  recognizes  per- 
sonality in  its  God  ;  the  "  Sparrow  "  becomes  a  centre 


THE  MISSIONABY  AS  EDUCATOE         175 

for  thought  on  physics,  mathematics,  geography,  physi- 
ology, and  finally  metaphysics  ;  "  Bridges,"  with  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  as  chief  illustration,  are  interpreted  in 
the  light  of  their  relation  to  growing  knowledge  and  to 
growing  civilization,  as  signs  of  "  that  peace  and  good 
will  that  first  came  through  the  work  of  Jesus  "  : — 
"  We  live  in  the  age  of  bridges,  and  that  means,  in  the 
age  of  growing  brotherhood." 

This  thought  of  "  growing  brotherhood  "  was  taking 
stronger  hold  on  his  mind  in  the  years  of  teaching.  He 
was  finding  in  it  a  powerful  motive.  To  the  prefectural 
educational  association  he  said  in  an  address  on  "  The 
Besponsibility  of  Teachers  "  :  "I  am  sometimes  asked, 
*  How  can  you  spend  your  time  in  such  elementary 
work  as  teaching  A-B-C  ?  Is  it  not  a  bore  ? '  Of 
course  it  would  be  intolerable  if  that  were  all.  But  I 
cannot  forget  that  I  am  a  representative  of  another 
country  and  am  teaching  Japanese  students.  This  is  a 
grand  and  inspiring  age,  one  in  which  the  East  and  the 
West  are  coming  together  for  the  first  time.  .  .  . 
Mutual  knowledge  of  each  other's  language  is  the  first 
step  towards  international  intercourse.  ...  To  teach 
English,  therefore,  is  to  be  helping  on  the  great  work  of 
binding  the  East  and  the  West  together  in  harmony,  in 
just  treaties,  and  in  brotherly  intercourse.  Were  it  not 
for  this  great  thought,  I  would  not  be  a  teacher  in 
Japan." 

The  political  situation  gave  special  meaning  to  this 
allusion  to  treaties  and  international  intercourse.  In 
1889  the  Constitution  had  been  promulgated.  The 
establishment  of  a  national  assembly,  the  abolition  of 
trial  by  torture,  and  the  proclamation  of  freedom  of 
religious  belief,  had  so  raised  Japan's  rank  in  the  family 


176  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

of  nations  that  the  people  called  loudly  for  the  abolition 
of  the  old  system  of  extraterritorial  relations  with 
foreign  powers.  Ke vision  of  the  existing  treaties  had 
been  under  contemplation  from  before  the  promulgation 
of  the  Constitution :  after  that  promulgation,  such  re- 
vision became  one  of  the  burning  questions  of  the  day, 
and  its  delay,  due  partly  to  foreign  causes,  partly  to 
internal  disagreement  as  to  the  terms  to  be  accepted, 
and  to  the  postponement  of  putting  into  operation 
Japan's  new  civil  and  commercial  codes,  made  the  feel- 
ing against  "Western  nations  run  high.  In  the  five  years 
that  elapsed  before  the  treaties  were  revised,  all  forms 
of  mission  work  suffered,  as  did  everything  associated 
with  the  hated  extraterritorial  system  that  seemed  to 
put  the  foreigner  on  a  different  plane  from  that  of  the 
Japanese.  To  the  American  Board  Mission  it  meant  in 
time  the  reorganizing  of  its  relations  with  the  Kumiai 
(corresponding  to  Congregational)  churches  that  it  had 
founded  or  fostered.  Looking  back  upon  it  years  after- 
wards, Mr.  DeForest  said  of  the  mission  history  during 
this  period : 

"  The  bitterest  wave  of  hostile  criticism  that  Japan 
has  known  was  sweeping  over  the  land  and  entering 
the  minds  and  feelings  of  the  people  everywhere.  It 
was  perfectly  natural  that  these  spirited  Christians 
should  share  the  national  feeling  that  Western  nations, 
by  their  continued  insistence  on  extraterritoriality,  were 
unjust  to  Japan ;  and  that  so-called  Christian  nations 
had  one  standard  of  righteousness  for  their  own  inter- 
course and  another  for  the  nations  of  the  East.  We 
seemed  to  our  Japanese  brethren  to  be  carrying  our 
work,  not  as  co-labourers  with  them  on  equal  terms, 
but  as  a  band  of  foreigners  who  acted  together,  as  it 


THE  MISSION AKY  AS  EDUCATOE         177 

were,  with  closed  doors,  and  who,  after  forming  plans, 
asked  them  to  help  carry  them  out.  .  .  .  Doubt- 
less we  were  not  so  sympathetic  and  considerate  as  we 
might  have  been.  So  friction  increased,  until  after  a 
few  years  an  abrupt  break  took  place.  The  independent 
churches  refused  to  cooperate  any  longer,  and  the  scores 
of  evangelists  scattered  over  a  thousand  miles  of  territory 
were  divided  up  between  the  churches  and  our  mission. 
.  .  .  We  rapidly  adapted  ourselves  to  the  situation, 
and  not  only  learned  to  respect  their  autonomy,  but 
also  to  glory  in  it.  We  recognized  their  right  to  be 
wholly  independent  of  us  in  forms  of  faith  as  well  as 
in  methods  of  work." 

Two  contemporaneous  quotations  will  show  his 
attitude  during  the  period  of  strain.  The  first  is  from 
his  reply  (1891)  to  the  editor  of  a  Japanese  Christian 
magazine,  who  had  asked  his  explanation  for  the  wide- 
spread coldness  in  the  churches,  and  his  thought  for  its 
cure: 

"  We  rejoice  that  the  time  has  come  for  us  to  take 
secondary  places,  and  that  we  are  assistants  instead  of 
principals.  .  .  .  [But]  there  is  growing  up  a  very 
serious  barrier  between  the  Christian  churches  and  the 
missionaries  who  have  aided  in  establishing  them.  We 
used  to  go  together  on  preaching  tours  ;  we  used  to  eat 
and  sleep  together  ;  .  .  .  we  used  to  pray  together, 
and  our  very  souls  seemed  tied  together  in  the  love  of 
the  mighty  cause  of  Christ.  But  our  ignorance  of 
your  ways  of  thinking,  our  inexperience  of  all  the  en- 
vironments that  have  made  you  Japanese  instead  of 
foreigners ;  our  too  frequent  assumption  of  power  and 
superiority ;  your  growing  knowledge  of  our  sectarian 
differences  and  of  the  imperfections  in  every  branch  of 


178  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

the  Church  of  Christ ;  together  with  the  national  feel- 
ing against  all  foreigners  owing  to  the  difficulties  at- 
tending treaty  revision, — this  combination  of  reasons 
has  caused  you  Christians  justly  to  regard  us  as  less 
worthy  of  respect  and  confidence.  From  such  a  be- 
ginning, doubts,  mutual  suspicions,  misunderstandings 
and  loss  of  confidence  are  the  natural  results.  This  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  we  cannot  effect  as  much  as 
formerly  in  our  aggressive  work,  and  I  sincerely  be- 
lieve this  is  why  you  too  cannot  accomplish  as  much  as 
formerly. 

"  How  then  can  Christian  work  be  brought  onto  a 
more  self-sacrificing  and  aggressive  basis  ?  .  .  .  By 
mutually  recognizing  at  once  the  barrier  that  has  arisen 
between  us,  and  using  all  possible  means  of  breaking  it 
down  forever.  You  all  and  we  all  must  come  more  to- 
gether, generously  recognizing  each  other's  gifts,  refus- 
ing even  to  think  evil  of  each  other,  believing  that  the 
mighty  love  of  Christ  is  able  to  overcome  all  obstacles 
and  to  hold  us  together  in  spite  of  the  failure  of  treaty 
revision  or  in  spite  of  difference  of  opinion  on  political 
or  theological  questions.  God  has  made  us  to  differ, 
nationally,  intellectually,  and  in  a  multitude  of  minor 
ways.  These  differences  cause  friction  and  hate  until 
we  all  become  one  in  Christ.  Then  our  very  differ- 
ences become  sources  of  strength,  variety,  joy,  and 
love." 

The  other  quotation  is  from  a  letter  to  the  American 
Board  in  1893  :  "  The  [Kumiai]  leaders  in  Tokyo  in- 
vited Dr.  Greene  and  myself  to  a  conference.  They 
say  the  time  has  come  for  missionaries  to  cease  being 
c  guardians '  of  the  Japanese  churches  and  middlemen 
between  them  and  the  West.     .     .     .    They  want  all 


THE  MISSIONARY  AS  EDUCATOR         179 

appearance  of  foreign  control  to  cease.  .  .  .  There 
is  justice  and  courage  and  conviction  in  what  they 
say.  Whether  the  time  has  come  for  the  great 
change  remains  to  be  seen.  '  As  long  as  we  furnish 
the  money  we  shall  control  the  work,'  is  a  saying 
that  naturally  crops  up  in  missionary  talk.  It  really 
is  the  devil's  text.  .  .  .  The  fighters  in  the 
Kevolutionary  War  were  none  the  less  independent  be- 
cause a  sympathetic  France  came  in  and  helped  them  ; 
and  it  may  be  that  the  really  independent  Church 
of  Christ  in  Japan  may  effect  the  most  by  a  similar 
kind  of  sympathetic  help  from  abroad.  ...  I  am 
not  sure  but  that  the  seeming  guardianship  of  foreign- 
ers is  one  great  reason  why  the  spirited  men  of  Japan, 
who  are  turning  to  Christianity,  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  present  churches.  .  .  .  The  sore  feel- 
ing over  extraterritoriality  is  without  doubt  influencing 
many  both  within  and  without  the  church  to  avoid  any 
extension  of  that  hated  principle  to  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity." 

If  such  was  the  situation  in  the  Christian  body,  out- 
side of  it  equally  striking  changes  were  taking  place. 
Passports  hitherto  liberally  interpreted  to  cover  Chris- 
tian work  were  now  interpreted  more  strictly  and 
granted  less  fr^:  y.  The  numbers  of  inquirers  after 
Christianity  fed  off,  and  fewer  were  led  to  decision.  It 
was  spiritually  "  hard  times."  Some  missionaries  of 
long  experience  began  to  wonder  whether  the  day  of 
missionary  work  by  foreigners  was  not  drawing  to  a 
close,  that  the  work  the  missions  had  started  might  be 
more  effectively  carried  on  by  the  native  church  alone. 
The  independence  of  the  national  spirit,  as  shown  in 
many  of  the  Japanese  Christian  leaders,   aroused  at 


180  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

times  the  question  whether  more  harm  than  good  was 
not  likely  to  grow  out  of  abortive  attempts  at  coopera- 
tion. These,  however,  wTere  extreme  cases.  The  effect 
in  Sendai  of  the  anti-foreign  feeling  was  to  limit  the 
extensive,  but  quicken  the  intensive,  work  of  the  mis- 
sionary body.  The  missionaries  of  various  denomina- 
tions held  union  prayer-meetings  together,  and  thus 
during  those  years  of  opposition  from  without  built  up 
within  a  strong  spirit  of  loyal  cooperation  that  has 
ever  been  a  great  blessing  to  the  Christian  work  in  that 
city.  The  period  brought  opportunities  also  in  ways  of 
individual  preparation,  as  some  of  the  letters  show : 
"  We  who  were  welcomed  so  enthusiastically  in  Sendai 
three  years  ago  are  of  little  account  now.  But  things 
will  mend  some  time,  and  I  regard  this  breathing  spell 
as  very  valuable  to  missionaries  in  many  ways.  We 
need  a  chance  to  review  our  lives  and  prepare  for  new 
work.  We  need  to  get  out  of  ruts.  New  missionaries 
need  this  chance  to  get  the  language."  "For  some 
years  I  have  kept  a  record  of  my  reading,  with  brief 
notes  on  it.  The  passport  system  has  become  very 
strict,  and  so  I  have  done  little  touring.  But  I  have 
had  an  exceptional  time  in  writing  and  reading.  My 
book  shows  [for  the  last  year]  sixteen  volumes,  averag- 
ing about  four  hundred  pages,  of  historical  and  scien- 
tific reading,  besides  newspapers  and  magazines,  etc. 
I've  published  thirteen  articles  and  sermons. " 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  represent  those 
years  of  anti-foreign  sentiment  as  a  dead  level.  They 
had  their  local  and  individual  variations,  and  one  of 
them  called  forth  even  as  strong  a  statement  as  the  fol- 
lowing :  "I  am  satisfied  that  my  work  here  is  telling 
more  for  Christianity  than  when  I  was  free  to  go 


THE  MISSIONAEY  AS  EDUCATOE         181 

around  with  Osaka  as  a  centre.  My  contact  with  the 
educated  classes  has  opened  secrets  to  me  that  I  could 
not  have  found  out  otherwise.  I  am  busy  all  over.  I 
never  have  had  so  many  individuals  come  to  me  for 
Bible  instruction  as  have  come  this  fall.  I  am  seldom 
asked  to  preach,  but  I  cannot  do  all  the  Bible  work  I 
am  asked  to  take  up."  And  then  the  next  year  times 
were  hard  again :  "  Missionary  work  is  getting  to  be 
exceedingly  difficult  for  me  here.  The  feeling  against 
missionaries  is  so  common  that  very  few  comparatively 
will  have  anything  to  do  with  us.  So  I'm  studying  the 
written  language,  which  is  quite  different  from  the 
spoken ;  and  after  the  treaties  are  revised  I  hope  to  be 
of  more  use." 

During  these  years,  the  school,  as  well  as  the  direct 
evangelistic  work,  suffered  its  ups  and  downs;  and 
partly  as  a  result  of  the  times  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, it  came  at  last  to  an  end.  At  one  point  in  its 
career,  the  abolition  of  the  government  academy  had 
left  it  without  an  educational  rival  in  the  field.  Then 
anti-foreign  and  anti-Christian  sentiment  had  risen 
against  it.  Dr.  Neesima,  whose  name,  even  as  absent 
principal,  had  been  a  source  of  strength,  died  in  1890  ; 
the  non-Christian  trustees  felt  that  the  removal  of  the 
Bible  from  the  curriculum  was  a  necessary  step  to  pros- 
perity ;  the  missionary  teachers,  feeling  that  hostility 
to  the  school  would  continue  as  long  as  they  remained 
members  of  the  faculty  with  attendant  rights,  resigned 
after  due  consultation  with  the  principal  trustees  and 
their  fellow-teachers.  The  trustees  regretfully  accepted 
their  resignations,  presented  them  with  gold  medals, 
and  secured  their  consent  to  teach  in  the  school  unoffi- 
cially a  few  months  longer,  until  provision  could  be 


182  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

made  for  their  class-work.  But  another  circumstance 
sealed  the  doom  of  the  school.  The  establishment  of  a 
government  middle  school,  of  the  same  grade  as  the 
Tokwa,  and  affording  its  pupils  the  superior  advantage 
of  exemption  from  military  draft  until  after  gradua- 
tion, made  financial  success  impossible  for  the  Tokwa. 
It  closed  in  March,  1892,  after  five  and  a  half  years  of 
work — closed  with  flying  colours  and  Christian  prin- 
ciples uneclipsed. 

"  The  final  exercises  took  place  yesterday,  in  the 
presence  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  scholars,  the  teachers 
and  trustees,  the  governor  and  the  mayor,  and  several 
scores  of  leading  officials  and  citizens.  It  was  indeed  a 
grand  wind-up.  It  was  the  occasion  of  frank  and  re- 
gretful expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  all  con- 
cerned, with  reference  to  the  first  prominent  effort  in 
Japan  of  non-Christians  to  carry  on  a  school  with  Chris- 
tian principles.  The  attempt  was  an  honest  one  on 
both  sides  ;  and  as  two  governors,  with  many  influen- 
tial citizens,  have  been  promoters  of  this  unique  move- 
ment, you  can  easily  see  that  it  has  attracted  wide  at- 
tention, and  has  won  large  praise  as  well  as  called 
down  a  continual  fire  of  criticism.  ...  It  tells 
well  for  the  trustees  that  they  were  willing  to  entrust 
a  school  to  Christian  teachers,  and  to  keep  it  up  in  the 
face  of  steady  public  and  private  criticism,  when  the 
annual  deficit  of  twenty-five  hundred  or  three  thousand 
dollars  had  to  come  out  of  their  own  pockets.  .  .  . 
They  would  have  been  willing  to  carry  on  the  school, 
provided  others  had  joined  the  movement  and  aided  it 
pecuniarily."  "The  school  has  closed,  but  the  work 
done  has  not.  It  will  abide.  Of  the  students,  five  or 
six  of  the  graduates  will  go  to  the  Doshisha,  and  some 


THE  MISSIONABY  AS  EDUCATOK         183 

of  them  will  take  the  theological  course.  Others  go  to 
the  various  schools  of  the  empire,  far  or  near,  bearing 
the  seeds  of  Christian  truth." 

The  years  have  shown  that  the  Tokwa  School  did 
not  live  in  vain.  Its  students  may  be  found  now, 
twenty  years  later,  in  responsible  positions  in  army  and 
navy,  educational  institutions  and  Christian  work, 
while  the  majority  are  serving  their  fellow-men  in 
business  ways,  the  better  in  life  and  the  nobler  in  as- 
piration because  of  the  years  in  a  Christian  school. 

And  as  for  the  missionary,  what  had  those  years 
done  for  him  ?  This  is  what  he  said  for  himself  at  the 
end  of  them :  "  My  five  years  in  Sendai  have  been  the 
hardest  I  have  ever  known  in  my  life,  yet  by  all  odds 
the  most  blessed.  If  the  school  work  has  done  for  our 
students  spiritually,  intellectually,  and  morally  what  it 
has  done  for  me,  they  will  never  cease  to  be  grateful 
for  these  years."  "  Personally  I  feel  that  these  five  years 
have  fitted  me  in  a  wonderful  manner  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  I  now  know  the  people,  their  ways  of  think- 
ing— especially  their  thoughts  on  religion  ;  and  more 
than  that,  why  they  think  as  they  do.  I  now  feel 
equipped  to  meet  the  educated  classes,  the  indifferent 
classes,  as  well  as  the  lower  classes.  Of  course  I  don't 
mean  that  I  know  everything,  but  that  I  know  some 
things  essential  to  a  missionary's  success.  To  be  sure, 
this  knowledge  won't  convert  anybody ;  but  it  will 
show  those  who  converse  with  me  that  I  know  them  at 
least  as  well  as  they  know  themselves,  and  it  will  help 
strengthen  every  turning  towards  the  light.  The  work 
is  a  hard  one,  far  harder  than  I  used  to  think ;  but  the 
gospel  of  living  love  will  surely  win." 


VI 

The  Missionary  Professionally 
and  Non-Professionally 


"  Not  by  the  page  word-painted 
Let  life  be  banned  or  sainted ; 
Deeper  than  written  scroll, 
The  colours  of  the  soul." 

—  Whittier. 

"  It  is  not  what  the  best  men  do,  but  what  they  are, 
that  constitutes  their  truest  benefaction  to  their  fellow- 
men." — Phillips  Brooks. 


VI 

THE  MISSIONARY    PROFESSIONALLY    AND 
NON-PROFESSIONALLY 

FROM  the  closing  of  the  Tokwa  School,  there  are 
no  distinct  periods  in  Mr.  DeForest's  life.  For- 
saking, therefore,  the  chronological  order  that 
has  been  followed  in  reviewing  the  first  eighteen  years 
of  his  missionary  life,  I  take  up  as  the  clearest  way  of 
presenting  its  latter  eighteen  years  the  logical  method, 
following  no  longer  time  divisions,  but  lines  of  thought 
and  activity.  Forsaking  also  the  attitude  of  an  unre- 
lated biographer,  since  I  am  now  to  write  of  things  that 
I  remember  more  vividly  or  know  more  directly  than 
I  could  those  of  the  earlier  chapters,  and  especially 
since  in  the  last  eight  years  of  his  life  I  knew  him  not 
only  as  daughter,  but  as  co-worker,  I  ask  the  reader's 
permission  to  assume  my  daughterhood. 

The  three  lines  along  which  I  shall  group  the  out- 
standing facts  of  this  second  half  of  his  life  in  Japan 
are  :  his  personality,  his  spiritual  enlargement,  and  the 
extension  of  the  sphere  of  his  activities. 

My  father's  second  furlough  took  us  all  to  America 
in  1894.  The  war  with  China  and  the  long-looked-for 
revision  of  the  treaties  in  that  year — to  go  into  opera- 
tion in  1899 — marked  the  approaching  close  of  the 
painful  anti-foreign  period.  But  there  were  reasons 
for  his  considering  seriously  whether  or  not  to  return 

187 


188  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

to  Japan.  One  was  the  financial  difficulties  of  the 
Board,  which  spelled  retrenchment ;  another  was  the 
education  of  the  children,  which  necessitated  their  re- 
maining in  America  ;  but  the  chief  one  was  the  ques- 
tion, Were  foreign  missionaries  to  be  needed,  or  wisely 
retained,  in  Japan  much  longer  ?  For  a  while  he  hesi- 
tated in  the  uncertainty  that  this  question  raised. 
Then  the  invitation  to  become  candidate  for  the 
pastorate  of  an  influential  American  church  forced  on 
him  a  decision  as  to  his  future  course.  A  family 
council  was  held ;  my  mother  clinched  the  argument 
for  his  return  to  Japan  by  thus  summarizing  the  situa- 
tion: He  had  the  language,  he  knew  and  liked  the 
Japanese,  they  knew  and  liked  him ;  these  facts  seemed 
to  indicate  there  was  a  place  for  him  in  Japan,  whether 
or  not  the  general  missionary  force  was  to  be  reduced  ; 
moreover,  withdrawal  would  not  be  understood  in 
America  and  would  harm  the  missionary  spirit  there. 
So  the  candidacy  was  rejected,  although  offered  a 
second  time ;  and  while  awaiting  a  message  from  the 
American  Board  deputation  then  in  Japan,  he  made 
preparations  to  return.  The  message  came  in  the  form 
of  a  cablegram  corroborating  the  fact  that  his  return 
was  desired  by  his  co-workers,  both  American  and 
Japanese ;  and  he  went  back. 

"  The  world  owes  you  a  debt  of  gratitude,"  wrote 
Dr.  William  Elliot  Griffis  to  my  mother  in  the  first 
days  of  her  widowhood,  "  for  holding  your  good  and 
great  husband  to  Japan  in  the  day  of  his  discourage- 
ment." He  went  back  alone,  that  the  children  might 
have  the  mother's  care  a  little  longer ;  and  in  the  next 
four  years  of  separation  from  his  family,  he  added  to 
his  life  one  common  phase  of  missionary  experience. 


THE  MISSIONAEY  1S9 

The  first  year  was  one  of  intense  loneliness  and 
attendant  discouragement ;  he  afterwards  confessed 
that  he  could  hardly  have  returned  to  Japan  alone 
had  he  realized  what  the  experience  was  to  bring.  But 
ever  responsive  as  he  was  to  the  touch  of  love  and  the 
call  to  action,  his  work  and  his  friends  brought  him 
safely  through  those  trying  first  months.  The  pastor 
at  the  out-station  of  Wakuya,  Kev.  Seiji  Katagiri,  came 
to  him  in  his  study,  where  he  had  been  inclined  to  bury 
himself  in  his  books,  and  drew  him  out  on  evangelistic 
trips  that  quickened  his  blood  and  whetted  his  appetite 
for  aggressive  outside  work.  Moreover,  a  young 
bachelor  from  another  mission  came  to  live  with  him  ; 
and  companionship  at  home  and  cordial  relations  out- 
side helped  to  tide  over  the  days  of  the  great  empti- 
ness. "  Though  I  growl,  the  growls  are  superficial," 
was  his  characteristic  remark  when  he  counted  his 
blessings.  "  While  I  should  very  much  have  liked  to 
stay  in  America,  I  knew  my  moral  backbone  would  be 
broken  if  I  refused  to  take  up  again  the  work  the  Lord 
has  given  me  out  here.  So  I  am  pitching  in  full  tilt, 
and  I  believe  the  risen  Christ  wTill  bless  me  and  mine." 

An  earthquake  wave  within  forty  miles  of  Sendai 
did  its  ruinous  work  along  the  coast,  obliterating  entire 
villages  and  carrying  away  hundreds  of  lives.  The 
neighbouring  provinces  rallied  to  the  help  of  the  sur- 
vivors with  money  and  other  gifts.  The  missionaries 
too  did  what  they  could  to  relieve  the  resultant  want. 
Rev.  E.  H.  Jones  (Baptist)  and  my  father  made  a  joint 
trip  of  eight  days  through  the  desolated  region,  dis- 
tributing clothes  and  blankets  and  preaching  Chris- 
tianity. Touring  work  opened  up  more  and  more  with 
the  freer  passport  system  that  followed  treaty  revision 


190  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

and  the  increasing  facilities  of  transportation  ;  and  thus 
he  became  indeed  the  "  rover  "  that  the  mission  had  in- 
tended him  to  be  when  he  went  to  the  north.  For  the 
rest  of  his  life,  his  work  was  that  of  preacher,  evangel- 
ist, lecturer  and  writer,  in  Sendai,  in  his  evangelistic 
district  in  three  prefectures,  and  even  in  distant  parts 
of  the  empire,  as  the  opportunity  and  the  call  came. 
For  he  had  no  school  work  to  bind  him  at  home,  and 
he  stood  in  no  official  relation  to  the  Sendai  Church, 
of  which,  although  one  of  the  founders,  he  had  never 
been  pastor.  He  was  free  to  go  and  come,  always 
sure  of  a  welcome  back  to  Sendai.  "  We  don't  call 
him  '  teacher '  or  '  master,'  but  '  brother,' "  a  pastor 
said  of  him ;  "he  never  seems  like  an  American,  but 
always  like  a  man  sympathetic  with  all  our  plans." 

The  mission  had  learned  through  experience  that  its 
best  results  were  to  be  gained  by  allowing  each  of  its 
members,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  its  main  policy 
and  methods,  "  full  liberty  to  be  himself  in  any  line 
of  work."  Thus  with  harmony  and  mutual  helpful- 
ness its  men  and  women  were  enabled  to  develop 
specialties  to  which  their  natural  endowment  and  their 
opportunities  called.  One  agency  for  promoting  this 
harmony  and  mutual  helpfulness  was  the  Outlook  and 
Evangelistic  Committee,  whose  members  visited  mis- 
sion stations  other  than  their  own,  became  acquainted 
with  the  local  problems,  learned  to  know  the  local 
pastors  and  evangelists,  and  thus  acquired  a  far  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  Japan  as  a  mission  field  than 
would  be  possible  with  limitation  to  one  district.  As  a 
member  of  this  committee,  my  father  visited  the  ends 
of  the  main  empire  and  many  intermediate  points, 
preaching  in  churches,  chapels,  hotels,  or  wherever  the 


THE  MISSIONAEY  191 

opportunity  opened,  talking  with  inquirers  and  Chris- 
tians, old  and  new,  and  meeting  with  great  varieties  of 
people, — merchants,  school-teachers,  priests,  soldiers, 
farmers,  professional  men,  officials, — men,  women,  and 
children.  Always  alert  to  hear  of  the  local  history, 
the  industries,  products,  and  social  conditions  of  the 
places  he  visited,  he  accumulated  in  his  note-books  rich 
treasures  of  incident  and  information.  Always  alert, 
also,  to  discover  new  means  of  approach  and  new 
points  of  contact,  he  learned  not  less  about  human 
hearts  and  needs,  and  the  way  to  meet  them  with  his 
message. 

"The  essentials  of  a  good  missionary  tour  in  the 
interior,"  he  wrote  after  a  two  weeks'  trip  in  his  Aizu 
district,  "  are  a  fairly  sound  bod}^,  a  purpose  to  eat  the 
food  of  the  country  and  to  enjoy  it  as  far  as  possible, 
patience  to  endure  being  eaten  by  the  almost  invisible, 
yet  exceedingly  lively,  occupants  of  nearly  all  hotels 
and  houses,  a  love  of  the  people  without  condescension, 
a  belief  that  they  are  in  some  good  sense  God's  children 
and  not  the  devil's,  a  knack  at  overcoming  petty  difficul- 
ties and  being  confident  in  larger  ones,  a  real  living 
message  to  deliver,  with  ability  to  put  it  into  under- 
standable language : — these  and  more  are  needed. 
Then  there  should  be  centres  where  are  pastors  and 
evangelists  and  groups  of  Christians  who  want  you  to 
come,  not  so  much  as  a  bishop,  but  rather  as  a  friend 
with  an  older  faith  and  a  different  experience.  If,  in 
addition  to  these,  one  can  have  good  weather  and  in- 
spiring scenery,  his  two  weeks  will  slip  away  fast." 
The  scenery  always  counted  with  him.  His  geological 
studies  had  taught  him  to  read  in  Japan's  towering 
peaks,   mountain   lakes,  waterfalls,  hot-springs,   cliffs, 


192  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

rocks,  rivers,  and  plains,  the  story  of  their  formative 
processes ;  and  year  by  year,  as  he  saw  more  of  her 
hills  and  valleys,  they  deepened  in  him  the  sense  of 
reverence  and  love,  because  they  always  told  him  that 
the  Hand  that  made  them  was  not  only  divine,  but 
"  my  Father's."  He  came  also  more  and  more  to  see 
the  influence  of  the  land  upon  the  people's  character, 
and  to  trace  in  their  love  of  beauty  one  benign  influence 
from  the  Source  of  all  beauty. 

His  touring  in  these  years  was  not  generally  pioneer 
work.  He  recognized  in  himself  the  lack  of  the  quali- 
ties of  a  leader  or  organizer ;  his  forte  was  in  suggestion 
and  stimulation  as  a  companion.  His  work  was  more 
that  of  strengthening  and  encouraging  the  local  Chris- 
tian forces,  than  of  breaking  ground  in  new  territory. 
When  he  preached  in  new  places,  it  was  under  the 
auspices  of  Christians  in  some  neighbouring  place,  or 
by  the  invitation  of  some  one  of  local  influence.  He 
did  not  do  disconnected  work,  desultory  tract  distri- 
bution, or  street-preaching ;  of  the  last  mentioned,  he 
seriously  doubted  the  effectiveness  in  Japan.  But  he 
was  not  blind  to  the  fact  that  some  of  these  means  had 
been  used  by  other  missionaries  with  good  results ;  and 
the  note-book  has  a  paragraph  entitled,  k'  One  New 
Leading  of  God,"  as  follows  : 

"  Don't  look  at  the  side  of  probable  failure  of  mis- 
sionaries whose  methods  of  work  you  don't  believe  in, 
or  can't  use  yourself.  Let  God  bring  success  out  of  all 
conditions.  Pray  for  such.  Don't  court  conversation 
that  dwells  on  failure  probabilities  ;  yet  face  difficulties 
with  hope  of  victory." 

"  My  plan,"  he  said,  "  is  to  take  the  line  of  least 
resistance,  both  in  methods  of  work  and  in  presentation 


THE  MISSIONABY  193 

of  Christian  truths."  In  general,  his  methods,  "  as  far 
as  I  have  any,"  he  wrote  the  Board  in  a  period  that 
may  be  taken  as  typical,  were  as  follows :  "  There  are 
now  seven  workers  in  this  field,  and  I  do  nothing 
virtually  as  far  as  controlling  them  is  concerned.  I 
employ  nobody  and  give  no  orders.  This  band  is  com- 
posed wholly  of  men  who  have  natural  relations  to  each 
other,  and  all  additions  to  it,  all  subtractions  from  it, 
their  places  of  work,  their  methods,  are  almost  wholly 
in  their  hands,  I  being  an  adviser  and  helper  in  every 
possible  way.  ...  I  do  not  visit  any  place  at  fixed 
times,  but  hold  myself  ready  to  go  at  the  invitation  of 
any  one,  and  to  stay  as  many  days  as  I  can  stand  it,  or 
merely  for  a  given  address." 

This  condition  of  cooperation,  however,  had  not 
always  existed  in  the  Sendai  field :  it  had  been  de- 
veloped somewhat  as  in  Osaka.  An  illustration  of  the 
process  is  found  in  the  northern  out-station  of  Mizusawa, 
where  a  group  of  some  twenty-five  Christians  had  been 
baptized  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Sendai  Station. 
The  account  runs  as  follows : 

"  According  to  methods  then  in  use,  I  sent  them  an 
evangelist,  and  his  pay  came  from  the  American  Board. 
For  fifteen  years,  during  the  anti-Christian  and  so-called 
anti-foreign  period,  this  work  did  not  grow.  It  was 
wholly  under  my  direction  ;  whenever  an  evangelist 
left,  I  sent  them  another.  When  they  asked  me  to 
send  the  last  evangelist,  I  replied,  '  We  have  given  you 
evangelists  for  over  fifteen  years ;  it  is  time  now  for 
you  to  assume  responsibility  and  call  your  own  evangel- 
ist.' 

"  '  We  will  of  course  do  it  as  soon  as  we  are  able,  but 
we  cannot  possibly  raise  any  money  as  we  are.' 


194  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

"  *  Well,  then,  if  after  we  have  spent  hundreds  of 
dollars  in  helping  you  for  fifteen  years  you  are  unable 
to  do  anything,  I  suggest  you  go  without  an  evangelist. 
You  can  get  an  occasional  preaching  from  some  passing 
missionary  or  pastor,  and  so  keep  alive  until  better 
times.' 

" '  No,  we  can't  do  that  way  ;  we  must  have  the  man 
we  have  our  eyes  on.     Please  send  him  to  us.' 

u  I  urged  them  to  pray  over  it,  and  see  how  much 
they  could  raise  for  the  evangelist ;  and  at  last  they 
pledged  one  dollar  a  month  out  of  the  ten  that  were 
needed.  Knowing  they  would  be  far  more  enthusiastic 
if  it  were  their  own  work,  I  told  them  I  should  never 
again  send  them  an  evangelist,  but  would  aid  them  as  a 
body  of  Christians  to  employ  any  one  they  wanted, 
and  the  full  responsibility  for  evangelizing  that  region 
should  be  theirs,  not  mine;  and  that  I  would  never 
visit  them  unless  they  sent  me  an  invitation.  It 
worked  like  a  charm.  They  called  the  man  they 
specially  wanted,  and  to  their  own  surprise  as  well  as 
mine,  raised  two  dollars  and  a  half  towards  moving 
expenses.  It  was  not  long  before  they  were  raising 
three  times  as  much  as  they  promised ;  and  in  time  I 
was  invited  to  the  dedication  of  the  new  church  they 
had  built,  that  cost  three  hundred  dollars  and  to  which 
a  generous  friend  had  enabled  me  to  contribute  fifty." 

The  churches  that  he  thus  aided  and  counselled  were 
often  very  weak,  suffering  from  many  vicissitudes. 
But  they  were  the  result  of  the  self-sacrifices  of  their 
pastors  and  their  members,  and  thus  had  in  themselves 
a  deep  source  of  vigour  and  of  growth. 

The  touring  work  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  my  father, 
not  only  for  the  consciousness  that  it  brought  help  to 


THE  MISSIONAEY  195 

the  scattered  groups  of  Christians,  but  also  for  the  new- 
thoughts  and  the  new  life  that  it  gave  him.  It  brought 
him  nearer  to  the  people  with  whom  he  was  working, 
and  to  the  heavenly  Father  upon  whom  he  relied  for 
strength  and  wisdom  in  the  work.  "  How  often,  in 
preparation  for  preaching,"  runs  a  note-book  jotting,  "  I 
have  prayed  that  I  might  have  correct  idioms,  right 
pronunciation,  and  then  a  heart  flooded  with  a  spirit  of 
love  and  truth,  so  that  I  might  have  liberty  of  tongue 
to  say  my  message ! "  Of  the  evangelists  with  whom 
he  work  1,  he  said  :  "  Being  with  these  men,  and  seeing 
their  faith,  and  hearing  their  earnest  prayers  and 
addresses,  and  perceiving  also  their  real  sacrifices  for 
Christ,  have  made  an  impression  on  my  soul  for  good, 
and  I  never  wTork  with  one  of  them  without  coming 
home  a  better  man  myself.  It  is  as  blessed  to  receive 
as  to  give." 

He  learned  from  his  Japanese  friends  lessons  in 
tactful  replies  to  delicate  questions,  as  in  this  incident 
from  the  diary  :  "  Then  the  half -drunk  head  teacher 
came  forward  and  said  with  determined  air  that  he  had 
several  questions  to  ask  ;  and  first,  '  What  defects  are 
there  in  Japanese  morality  that  you  should  be  spread- 
ing Christianity  ?  '  — a  line  that  most  foreigners  would 
have  tripped  up  on, — would  have  gone  for  sake,  women, 
etc.  But  Katagiri  skillfully  dodged  the  whole  matter 
by  saying,  '  That  isn't  the  question ;  but  truth  found 
anywhere  is  truth  for  the  whole  world,  not  for  one 
country.  When  we  received  Buddhism,  wre  didn't  argue 
what  our  defects  were,  but  wTe  saw  the  truth  therein,  and 
took  it.     So  with  Confucianism  ;  so  with  Christianity.' " 

Other  rich  sources  of  instruction  were  found  in  Japa- 
nese history  and  current  literature.     From  the  history 


196  JOHX  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

and  from  selected  Japanese  fiction,  he  learned  of  domi- 
nant motives  carried  down  from  Japan's  past  into  her 
present ;  from  Japanese  newspapers  and  magazines  he 
learned  at  first  hand  the  things  uppermost  in  the  public 
mind.  Once  on  a  railroad  journey,  in  conversation 
with  an  educated  stranger,  the  subject  turned  to  the 
then  absorbing  topic  of  the  "  text-book  scandal,"  when 
many  prominent  educators  throughout  the  land  were 
convicted  of  receiving  bribes  from  publishers  of  school- 
books.  The  stranger  expressed  his  sense  of  shame  that 
a  foreigner  should  know  of  so  disgraceful  an  o  :urrence. 
My  father  replied  that  shame  for  what  had  been  in  the 
past  was  not  so  vital  as  the  question  whether  Japan 
had  sufficient  moral  power  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of 
similar  scandals  in  future.  This  led  the  conversation 
to  the  great  basis  of  morality  in  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
The  man  later  followed  up  the  conversation  by  a  study 
of  Christianity,  and  became  a  Christian. 

A  favourite  historical  incident  used  by  my  father  in 
his  sermons  was  the  self-sacrifice  of  Sakura  Sogoro,  the 
head  man  of  a  village  in  the  province  of  Shimosa,  who 
was  crucified  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
as  the  result  of  his  righteous  attempt  to  deliver  his 
village  from  the  cruel  oppression  of  an  overlord.  A 
strong  Christian  pastor  in  Tokyo  to-day,  formerly  a 
Buddhist  priest,  traces  part  of  his  first  interest  in  Chris- 
tianity to  an  address  on  the  principle  of  self-sacrifice, 
in  which  my  father  used  this  incident  to  lead  up  to  the 
world's  supreme  example  of  life-giving  for  others. 

In  his  general  attitude  towards  the  Japanese  he  was, 
as  one  of  his  fellowr-missionaries  termed  him,  an 
"  advocate "  rather  than  a  "  judge."  His  place  and 
work  did  not  require  him  to  be  the  latter,  but  often 


THE  MISSIONAEY  197 

did  call  on  him  for  the  offices  of  the  former.  He  was 
not  blind  to  the  faults  of  the  Japanese  ;  but  in  making 
his  moral  estimates  he  made  liberal  allowance  for  mis- 
understandings that  might  arise  from  differences  of 
custom  and  language.  He  said,  "  What  sad,  heavy, 
discouraging  days  and  nights  every  missionary  of  ex- 
perience has  suffered !  How  near  to  wreckage  some 
great  Christian  works  have  gone  because  of  racial  dif- 
ferences, because  the  Japanese  terms  of  righteousness, 
justice,  virtue,  chastity,  honour,  love,  worship,  have 
shades  of  meaning  that  we  are  strangers  to  !  "  He  was 
particularly  on  his  guard  against  the  danger  of  letting 
himself  become  suspicious  or  unsympathetic :  "  That," 
he  said,  "  is  the  saddest  thing  that  can  happen.  It 
dries  up  our  love  and  makes  it  formal ;  it  quenches  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  would  otherwise  give  us  the  victory." 
One  thing  that  helped  him  to  avoid  sweeping  gener- 
alizations about  bad  Japanese  characteristics,  and  that 
prevented  him  from  attributing  to  the  whole  nation  the 
faults  of  some  classes  or  individuals,  was  his  study  of 
their  history  and  his  understanding  of  the  way  sections 
or  strata  of  the  nation  had  been  differently  influenced 
by  varying  environment  and  training.  He  also  dis- 
tinguished between  those  failings  that  are  common  to 
human  beings  everywhere  and  those  that  seem  locally 
emphasized.  In  his  own  mature  judgment,  the  greatest 
fault  in  Japanese  character  was  the  weakness  of  the 
individual  to  act  in  new  lines.  When  asked  by  one  of 
the  commissions  preparatory  to  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  at  Edinburgh  in  1910  to  state  any  special 
conditions  or  influences  antagonistic  to  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  Japan,  he  made  among  others  the  follow- 
ing statement : 


198  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

"Those  parts  of  Christian  civilization  that  fit  the 
national  characteristics  so  that  the  whole  nation  can 
join  in  or  agree  with  them, — like  the  Red  Cross  Society, 
the  humane  spirit  in  philanthropic  work,  the  growing 
value  of  the  individual,  universal  education,  better 
moral  living, — are  welcomed  everywhere.  But  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  for  every  individual,  compelling 
each  deliberately  to  choose  life  or  death,  does  not  appeal 
to  individuals  widely.  They  love  to  act  en  masse,  and 
are  powerful  in  this  line.  The  individual  initiative  is 
weak.  I  have  heard  some  of  their  own  Christian 
leaders  lament  this  as  the  one  great  defect  in  Japanese 
character. " 

Of  the  good  qualities  of  the  Japanese,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  were  many  of  which  he  loved  to  speak,  and 
which  he  found  of  inestimable  help  in  his  work  as  a 
Christian  missionary.  Chief  among  these  were  loyalty, 
open-mindedness,  and  love  of  righteousness.1 

He  was  a  friend  to  all  classes  of  men.  He  wrote  the 
bookbinder's  English  sign-board  for  him;  he  was  in- 
vited to  a  party  by  a  group  of  local  artisans,  and  re- 
galed them  with  the  story  of  his  early  attempts  at  self- 
support  ;  he  found  points  of  contact  with  the  jinrikisha 
pullers  behind  whom  he  rode,  and  in  bargaining  with 
them  he  always  preferred  to  run  the  risk  of  overpay- 
ing, rather  than  to  underpay  them.  He  had  a  warm 
heart,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was  not  merely  sympathy  that 
led  him  to  generous  treatment  of  those  whom  he  em- 
ployed. He  had  come  to  understand  that  in  Japan  the 
sliding  scale  of  charges  often  met  was  due  in  part  to 
the  idea  of  noblesse  oblige  under  the  old  regime,  when 

1  For  more  on  this  subject,  see  "  The  Moral  Greatness  of  the  People 
of  Japan/'  by  J.  H.  DeForest,  in  the  Independent,  July  9,  1907. 


THE  MISSIONAEY  199 

those  who  could  pay  more  were  expected  to  do  so ;  and 
that  therefore  too  strict  an  insistence  upon  an  absolute 
standard  of  value  seemed,  especially  in  places  where 
modernism  and  Western  methods  of  trade  had  not  yet 
penetrated,  like  the  expression  of  a  stingy,  mercenary 
spirit.  Thus  it  was  a  characteristic  act  on  his  part 
when  once,  in  bargaining  with  a  jinrikisha  man  before 
the  journey,  he  argued  the  price  down  to  a  suitable 
figure,  and  then  at  the  close  of  the  trip  gave  the  puller 
as  a  tip,  with  a  friendly  word  or  two,  the  balance  of 
the  sum  he  had  originally  asked  for.  He  thought  too 
of  the  welfare  of  the  pullers.  "When  his  enlarging 
sphere  had  brought  corresponding  social  obligations 
and  opportunities,  he  had  an  enclosure  made  near  his 
front  gate,  where  the  jinrikisha  pullers  of  his  guests 
might  wait  under  cover  round  a  hibachi  during  the 
cold  evening  hours. 

The  servants  in  his  home  were  always  closely  at- 
tached to  him.  At  morning  family  worship  he  taught 
them  the  Gospel  and  how  to  pray  to  their  Father  and 
his ;  and  generally  this  bore  fruit  in  their  coming  of 
their  own  accord  to  profess  their  Christian  faith.  He 
was,  however,  not  only  their  religious  teacher ;  he  was 
their  friend  ;  he  treated  them  generously  and  sympa- 
thetically in  times  of  sickness  or  want,  and  took  a 
genuine  interest  in  their  family  affairs. 

Soldiers  would  come  and  spend  many  hours  in  his 
study.  His  having  been  a  soldier  himself  made  a  point 
of  contact,  and  to  strengthen  this  he  joined  the  Loyal 
Legion  as  successor  to  an  older  brother  who  had  been 
an  officer  in  the  Civil  War.  He  once  came  from  his 
study  with  his  face  beaming  from  a  conversation  with 
a  non-Christian  samurai  who  had  opened  his  heart  to 


200  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

him  in  telling  about  his  feeling  for  his  sword — the  sword 
that  has  been  from  of  old  "  the  soul  of  the  samurai" 
After  that,  he  saw  new  meaning  in  Isaiah's  text,  "  My 
sword  is  bathed  in  heaven." 

His  friendships  extended  also  among  men  high  in  civil 
and  educational  positions,  who  came  through  him  to  a 
deeper  realization  of  the  vitality  of  spiritual  things. 
Said  one  of  them  at  his  funeral,  in  an  address  read  to 
his  "  valiant  spirit,"  "  It  is  only  since  I  have  known 
you  that  I  have  come  to  see  that  the  position  of  the 
United  States  in  the  world  to-day  is  due  to  the  power 
of  religion  and  the  knowledge  of  a  reverential  faith  ; 
and  through  knowing  you  I  have  come  to  understand 
the  truth  in  those  words  of  the  Confucian  classic  Chuyo, 
'  The  right  should  never  be  departed  from ;  that  which 
should  be  departed  from  is  unrighteousness." 

A  Japanese  once  asked  him  what  he  liked  best,  and 
his  unhesitating  answer  was,  "  People." 

His  friends  were  not  only  among  the  Japanese.  In 
the  foreign  communities  of  Tokyo,  Yokohama,  and 
Kobe,  there  were,  outside  the  missionary  circle,  homes 
of  business  or  professional  men  in  which  he  was  always 
a  welcome  guest.  His  talent  for  friendship  was  partly 
due  to  the  fact  that  there  was  no  clerical  professional- 
ism about  him  that  prevented  him  from  being  a  man 
among  his  fellow-men.  He  was  one  of  them  every- 
where, interested  in  the  broadly  human  things,  believ- 
ing that  all  aspects  of  God's  world,  not  wrong  in  them- 
selves, were  part  of  His  plan  for  His  children's  educa- 
tion and  enjo}7ment.  He  deplored  the  narrow  separa- 
tism of  some  missionaries,  to  whose  failure  to  be  genu- 
inely and  graciously  human  he  attributed  in  part  the 
existence  of  the  "  anti-missionary  belt "  on  some  of  the 


THE  MISSIONAKY  201 

Pacific  steamers.  He  believed  in  the  fullest  type  of 
humanity,  and  held  with  the  apostle  Paul  that  the 
larger  the  number  of  points  at  which  he  could  touch 
others'  lives,  the  greater  the  chance  of  winning  some  to 
Christ.  Even  clothes  had  their  bearing  on  his  mission. 
"J.  really  pushes  me,"  he  once  wrote  home  to  my 
mother,  "  asserting  my  duty  to  have  a  swallow-tail  suit, 
and  clothes  to  enter  the  highest  circles.  He  says  I'm 
sure  of  invitations  that  I  can't  afford  to  refuse.  I  firmly 
said  '  No '  last  night,  as  I  thought  of  you  wearing  such 
poor  clothes  for  the  sake  of  educating  the  children. 
But  this  morning  a  half  doubt  comes  up — whether  to 
get  a  swallow-tail  or  a  Prince  Albert.  I  never  prayed 
about  clothes  before.  May  the  good  Lord  guide  me 
into  either  a  swallow-tail  or  some  other  kind,  as  will 
glorify  Him  and  me  most." 

His  relations  with  his  fellow-missionaries  were  of  the 
most  cordial  nature.  Giving  and  receiving  social,  in- 
tellectual, and  spiritual  help,  his  companionships  with 
his  foreign  co-workers  were  a  rich  part  of  his  life. 
Jovial  by  nature,  he  could  be  counted  on  for  his  share 
of  merrymaking  on  a  social  occasion  ;  he  used  to  quote 
the  saying  that  God's  sense  of  humour  was  proved  by 
His  having  made  monkeys  ;  and  he  considered  his  own 
love  of  humour  a  divine  gift  that  had  helped  him  and 
his  fellows  over  many  a  hard  spot.  Sympathetic,  he 
was  one  to  go  to  in  trouble  or  perplexity  ;  generous,  he 
was  sought  as  peacemaker  in  cases  of  difference.  A 
friend  especially  of  the  new  missionary,  he  often  by 
timely  counsel  and  practical  suggestion  helped  such  a  one 
to  get  his  footing  and  "find  himself."  One  fellow- 
worker  has  given  two  examples  of  this  trait : 

"  At  a  business  meeting  in  Sendai,  in  giving  his 


202  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

views  as  to  the  best  method  of  helping  the  flood  suf- 
ferers last  fall,  he  spoke  of  the  influence  this  relief  work 
would  have  upon  the  officials  and  upon  religious  work 
in  the  future.  A  new  missionary  misunderstood  him, 
and  criticized  'catering  to  classes  in  society.'  With 
nothing  but  kindness  and  love  he  carefully  explained  his 
reasons  and  motives,  as  if  that  young  missionary  just 
out  from  the  Middle  West  had  been  his  equal  in  ex- 
perience and  judgment."  "  Once  at  a  little  missionary 
prayer-meeting  at  our  house  in  Sendai,  he  said, '  Before 
I  take  my  furlough,  which  comes  soon,  I  want  to  leave 
a  word  for  the  young  missionaries  here.  Always  think 
of  the  Japanese,  not  as  you  see  them  on  the  street,  but 
at  their  best.  Carry  only  the  noblest  about  them  in 
your  thoughts.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  dwell  on 
their  faults  and  so  lose  respect  for  them.' " 

His  attitude  as  expressed  in  this  advice  had  a  deep 
influence  on  some  of  his  American  fellow-workers. 
One  of  the  leading  missionaries  in  Japan  to-day  has 
said,  "  My  general  attitude  towards  Japan  and  the 
Japanese  is  the  result  more  of  his  influence  and  words 
than  of  those  of  any  other  one  man."  And  this  same 
attitude  he  maintained  towards  his  fellow-workers ;  one 
of  them  said  of  him,  "  I  never  heard  him  criticize  his 
fellows.  He  always  found  something  to  admire  in  all 
his  friends,  even  those  who  were  opposed  to  him  in  re- 
ligious views." 

Perhaps  this  was  because  he  was  himself  so  sensitive 
to  praise  or  blame.  He  had  frequently  to  resist  the 
temptations  that  came  from  hearing  himself  well 
spoken  of,  and  his  level  head  often  saved  him  from 
taking  at  full  value  the  praise  and  even  flattery  that 
came  to  him.     While  open  to  advice  and  frank  speak- 


THE  MISSIONARY  203 

ing,  he  shrank  from  harsh  criticism  as  from  an  enemy. 
On  one  occasion  a  Japanese  speaker  had  almost  bitterly 
criticized  a  missionary  of  sweet  temper  and  thorough 
Christian  devotion.  Afterwards  my  father  said  to  an- 
other who  had  also  been  in  the  audience,  "  I  hope  no 

one  will  tell  Dr. what  that  man  said.     It  would 

take  the  heart  out  of  him.  ISTo  man  can  do  his  best 
work  if  he  knows  such  things  are  being  said  about  him. 
If  any  one  knows  any  such  things  said  about  me,  I 
hope  he  will  not  tell  me  of  it." 

His  theory  and  practice  of  the  unity  of  the  sons  of 
God  bred  in  him  a  broad  Christian  charity  towards  the 
other  sects.  The  one  thing  of  which  he  was  intolerant 
was  intolerance.  One  day  after  a  conversation  with 
another  missionary,  he  said  to  me  with  a  groan,  "  To 
think  that  a  university  man  could  say  so  blindly  that 
he  must  *  follow  his  conscience,'  without  recognizing 
that  a  conscience  can  be  educated." 

His  early  attitude  towards  union  and  cooperation 
was  only  confirmed  by  his  later  experience.  He  grew 
more  and  more  to  believe  that  sectarian  divisions  surely 
postponed,  if  not  actually  imperilled,  the  victory  of 
Christ  in  Japan.  "The  future  of  Christianity  in 
Japan  demands  that  we  preach  Christ,  and  not  some 
inherited  form  of  church  government  or  of  divisive 
creed.  .  .  .  Until  the  great  influential  denomina- 
tions themselves  form  such  alliance  or  union  as  will  de- 
mand of  their  missionaries  on  the  field  that  they  co- 
operate in  every  possible  way  in  schools,  in  seminaries, 
in  occupation  of  places,  and  in  evangelistic  work,  the 
one  answer  to  the  inquiry  [why  missions  have  not  ac- 
complished more]  must  be  the  humiliating  confession, 
'  We  have  disobeyed  the  instructions  of  our  Chief,  who 


204  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

commanded  us  to  have  such  a  conspicuous  unity  as 
would  conclusively  demonstrate  to  the  world  that  He 
was  divinely  sent  from  heaven  to  bring  all  men  into 
brotherhood.' " 

He  wrote  the  above  for  readers  in  America.  For  his 
part  on  the  field,  he  acted  as  far  as  possible  as  if  such 
unity  were  a  fact,  and  was  ever  glad  to  find  ways  of 
expressing  his  desire  for  it.  During  all  his  residence 
in  Sendai,  whether  in  evangelistic  work  with  evangel- 
ists or  missionaries  of  another  denomination,  or  as  lec- 
turer in  the  school  of  another  mission,  or  in  giving  sup- 
port to  the  union  enterprises  of  a  poorhouse  and  an 
orphan  asylum  in  the  city,  he  rejoiced  to  be  free  from 
the  trammels  of  anything  that  seemed  to  him  to  narrow 
the  grace  and  truth  of  God.  One  record  runs :  "  I 
spent  a  delightful  three  days  in  the  work  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  Mission  last  December,  and  was  re- 
warded with  a  vote  of  thanks  from  their  evangelistic 
committee.  I  should  like  to  get  a  similar  reward  of 
merit  from  our  Episcopal  and  Catholic  brethren  before 
I  shuffle  off  this  mortal  coil."  In  prayer  for  the  Pope, 
and  for  the  coming  together  of  the  three  great  branches 
of  the  Christian  Church,  he  bore  the  matter  of  Chris- 
tian unity  upon  his  heart. 

One  of  the  chief  union  activities  of  his  later  years 
was  his  work  on  the  Famine  Eelief  Committee  of  the 
Sendai  Foreign  Community  in  1905  and  1906.  The 
three  northern  provinces  of  which  Sendai  is  the  centre 
suffered  from  so  extensive  a  failure  of  the  rice  crop  as 
to  threaten  with  starvation  three-quarters  of  a  million 
people.  As  the  gravity  of  the  situation  became  real- 
ized, the  government  with  wise  and  far-sighted  plans  re- 
mitted nearly  two  million  yen  of  taxes,   conducted 


THE  MISSIONARY  205 

nearly  four  million  yen  worth  of  public  works — con- 
struction of  roads,  bridges,  river  banks — to  provide 
labour  for  those  that  had  no  means  of  support,  and 
supplied  to  the  impoverished  farmers  free  seed  of  pota- 
toes, rice,  and  wheat  for  the  next  year's  crop.  A  liberal 
imperial  gift  and  private  contributions  from  other  Jap- 
anese sources  gave  substantial  aid.  The  foreign  com- 
munity of  Sendai,  including  government  school-teach- 
ers, and  Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant  missionaries, 
elected  a  committee  that  early  published  an  appeal  to 
foreigners  resident  in  the  East.  A  generous  response 
was  made.  Then  the  appeal,  sent  abroad  and  copied 
widely  in  England  and  America,  was  followed  by  re- 
ports from  the  famine  district  as  seen  by  members  of 
the  committee.  England  through  the  Mansion  House 
Fund  and  similar  collections,  and  America  through  the 
Ked  Cross  Society  and  the  Christian  Herald,  sent  large 
sums  for  relief ;  Germany  also  contributed.  A  million 
yen  was  thus  sent  from  abroad  to  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment or  the  Ked  Cross  Society ;  over  a  hundred  thou- 
sand more  came  directly  to  the  hands  of  the  foreign 
Eelief  Committee,  whose  members  visited  the  stricken 
districts  and  presented  the  sums  to  local  officials.  The 
efficiency  of  these  officials  in  controlling  the  distribu- 
tion of  aid  so  as  to  avoid  pauperizing  the  people  was 
worthy  of  admiration.  It  was  not  an  absolutely  un- 
known thing,  however,  for  the  old  samurai  spirit  of  a 
man  to  rise  and  refuse  aid,  preferring  death  to  the  dis- 
grace of  becoming  an  object  of  charity  even  from  his 
own  nation.  Thus  the  foreign  Eelief  Committee  took 
pains  to  present  its  contributions  with  the  emphasis  on 
the  friendly  human  spirit  of  which  they  were  tokens. 
Incidents  from  the  visits  of  the  committee  might  be 


206  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

multiplied,  but  a  few  selected  paragraphs  from  my 
father's  reports  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  nature  of 
the  need  and  the  relief. 

"  Our  methods  of  work  are  wholly  new,  and  we  think 
the  best  possible  for  foreigners  in  a  land  like  Japan, 
where  the  people  are  high-spirited  and  resent  any 
assumption  that  they  need  foreign  aid.  It  certainly  is 
admirable — the  brave  fight  that  nearly  a  million  men, 
women,  and  children  are  making  under  the  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances.  But  just  as  during  the  war 
they  prized  the  sympathy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  so 
now  they  prize  the  humanitarian  spirit  of  any  foreigner 
who  wants  to  show  his  sympathy  and  does  it  in  a  tact- 
ful way. 

"  In  three  provinces  there  are  some  forty-six  coun- 
ties, thirty-five  or  six  of  which  are  in  need  of  aid  ;  and 
in  some  over  half  the  population  are  near  the  edge  of 
starvation,  and  tens  of  thousands  are  actually  without 
to-day's  food.  We  have  been  cordially  introduced 
from  the  governors  to  the  heads  of  these  counties,  to 
whom  we  take  in  fair  proportion  the  money  contrib- 
uted through  us,  with  the  request  that  it  be  turned 
into  food.  I  took  last  week  $920  to  three  counties. 
It  was  the  toughest  winter  job  I  ever  had.  I  rode 
fifty-five  miles  through  deep  snow,  and  it  nearly  used 
up  nineteen  men  to  pull  me. 

"  The  cold  and  snows  of  this  winter  are  almost  un- 
precedented. Such  stinging,  cutting,  biting  winds ! 
It  is  pitiable  in  the  extreme  to  see  thinly  clad,  bare- 
footed children  who  have  had  but  a  taste  of  miserable 
food  once  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  worse  to  hear 
that  a  woman  froze  to  death  in  childbirth  ;  that  another 
froze  under  the  temple  steps,  where  she  had  gone  in 


THE  MISSIOKAEY  207 

her  extremity  to  pray  for  deliverance  from  hunger. 
In  the  worst  village  I  visited,  there  were  fifty  houses, 
forty-five  of  which  were  in  total  destitution.  Not  only 
was  food  gone,  but  everything  that  would  bring  a  few 
cents— clothing  and  bedding  and  tools— had  been  sold ; 
and  the  wretched  soup  of  daikon  (coarse  radishes)  and 
leaves  from  grape-vines,  into  which  a  handful  of  cheap 
rice-flour  was  stirred,  was  all  they  could  get." 

A  union  orphanage  for  the  destitute  children  of  the 
famine  district,  established  in  Sendai  with  part  of  the 
relief  funds  or  such  gifts  as  came  in  after  the  new 
crops  had  begun  to  yield,  remains  to-day  as  an  effective 
witness  to  practical  Christianity.  How  far-reaching 
are  the  influences  of  the  good-will  aroused  by  the 
famine  relief  work  it  is  impossible  to  say.  But  it  may 
be  that  one  seemingly  insignificant  incident  has  done 
as  much  for  the  spread  of  this  good- will  as  many  more 
striking  ones.  One  day  a  Tokyo  reporter  called  on  my 
father  to  get  some  information  about  the  relief  work. 

"  I'd  like  to  have  you  meet  the  committee,"  said  my 
father.  "  Come  around  to-night,  and  I'll  get  as  many 
of  them  as  can  come  together  for  dinner." 

The  impromptu  party  proved  a  great  success ;  and 
the  reporter,  with  the  keen  eye  and  ear  of  his  profes- 
sion, did  not  confine  his  attention  to  famine  relief 
items.  He  wrote  for  the  Tokyo  Asahi  a  news  letter, 
narrating  the  details  of  the  occasion,  from  the  asking 
of  the  blessing  before  the  meal  to  the  jokes  exchanged 
over  the  home-raised  celery.  His  account,  as  a  good 
sample  of  journalism,  was  inserted  in  a  popular  set  of 
girls'  high  school  readers  that  has  been  widely  used 
throughout  Japan  ;  and  thus  the  story  of  an  unsuspect- 
ing dinner-party  has  given  to  thousands  of  Japanese 


208  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

girls  a  glimpse  of  a  Christian  home  open  for  social  in- 
spiration and  the  fellowship  of  good  works. 

The  social  side  of  that  home  was  indeed  an  important 
part  of  its  life.  When  games  and  songs  for  the  young 
people  made  up  the  program,  my  mother  generally 
presided :  the  kodak  and  the  stereopticon — gifts  from 
American  friends — were  my  father's  favourite  means  of 
entertaining  guests.  Both  in  and  out  of  the  home 
they  preached  the  Gospel  of  the  coming  Kingdom. 
Or  his  case  of  minerals  and  fossils,  largely  collected  in 
Japan,  would  be  used  to  tell  the  story  of  the  great  on- 
ward march  of  the  universe  under  divine  control ;  and 
the  books  that  lined  his  study  walls  would  come  down 
from  their  shelves  to  speak  some  new  message  of  truth 
and  light  to  an  eager  caller. 

He  knew  how  to  bring  big  topics  into  little  conver- 
sations. A  maker  of  the  well-known  Sendai  cabinets — 
of  lacquered  wood  with  elaborate  iron  trimmings — once 
came  to  him  to  ask  his  advice  in  some  business  deal- 
ings with  a  foreigner  in  a  port  city.  This  foreigner 
had  ordered  three  cabinets,  giving  the  exact  measure- 
ments desired ;  and  the  cabinets  had  been  made  accord- 
ing to  instructions  and  shipped.  On  their  arrival, 
however,  word  had  been  sent  back  to  the  maker  that, 
although  two  were  acceptable,  the  third  was  not  as 
ordered,  and  would  only  be  accepted  at  a  price  much 
lower  than  the  original.  What  should  the  maker  do  ? 
My  father  advised  him  to  write,  asking  that  the  cabinet 
be  returned  at  the  maker's  own  expense.  "  But,"  the 
man  demurred,  "  it  will  be  a  great  loss  to  me  to  have 
so  large  an  article,  made  by  special  order,  left  on  my 
hands."  "  It  was  made  exactly  as  ordered  ?  "  "  Yes." 
"  Then  it  will  be  a  far  greater  loss  to  you  virtually  to 


THE  MISSIONAKY  209 

deny  your  own  honesty  and  lower  your  goods."  The 
cabinet-maker  saw  the  point  and  accepted  the  advice. 
This  time  the  reply  came  back  that  on  a  second  exami- 
nation the  cabinet  had  proved  satisfactory.  It  was 
evidently  a  case  where  the  clerk  or  secretary  that  had 
charge  of  the  correspondence  at  the  other  end  had 
tried*  a  little  "  graft,"  and  had  been  baffled  by  the  un- 
expected display  of  backbone  on  the  part  of  the 
cabinet-maker ;  who,  on  his  side,  had  learned  a  lesson 
in  self-respect  and  business  integrity. 

These  little  home  talks  with  all  grades  of  people 
were  no  insignificant  part  of  the  missionary's  work. 
He  was  often  busy,  too,  with  writing,  both  for  the 
Japanese  and  for  the  American  press.     His  early  writ- 
ings for  America  were    chiefly  for   the  Missionary 
Herald  and  the  Religious  Herald.     When  the  Inde- 
pendent, after  publishing  an  occasional  article  of  his 
on  timely  subjects  connected  with  the  constitutional 
development  of  Japanese  government  and  the  treaty 
revision,  asked  him  for  contributions  of  monthly  items, 
he  declined  the  request  on  the  ground  that  such  con- 
tributing would  be  unfair  to  the  Board,  which  had  the 
first  right  to  information  from  its  missionaries.     When 
the  question  was  broached  to  the  Board,  however,  its 
editorial  secretary,  Dr.  Strong,  took  the  generous  atti- 
tude that  some  topics   might  be  treated  on  a  wider 
basis  than  was  convenient  for  the  Missionary  Herald, 
and  that  therefore  his  contributions  need  not  be  limited 
to  that  magazine  when  he  had  something  to  say  to  the 
wide  Christian  public.     With  this  permission  he  be- 
came recognized  as  a  regular  contributor  to  the  Inde- 
pendent, to  which  he  thereafter  sent  annually,  with 
few  exceptions,  a  summary  of  the  principal  political, 


210  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

economic,  and  religious  events  of  the  year  in  Japan0 
The  Board  also  left  to  his  own  disposal  the  income 
from  such  writings,  which  proved  a  material  necessity 
in  the  later  years  when  his  widening  circle  of  activities 
made  upon  him  correspondingly  widening  financial  de- 
mands. 

For  the  Japanese  press  he  wrote  extensively.  He 
produced  no  great  work,  but  he  wrote  to  meet  definite 
situations,  and  to  the  timeliness  of  many  of  his  tracts 
was  due  their  success.  He  drew  his  subjects  from  the 
thought  and  the  movements  of  the  Japanese,  as  he 
touched  them  in  his  Christian  work :  when  he  found 
from  the  reception  of  a  talk  that  it  had  struck  a  vibrant 
chord  in  his  hearers,  he  gave  it  the  wider  voice  of  the 
printed  page.  Some  of  his  subjects,  he  said,  he  would 
not  have  thought  of  taking,  but  for  the  suggestions  of 
the  evangelists  with  whom  he  was  working,  who  knew 
so  well  what  lines  of  thought  would  touch  a  popular 
audience  and  open  the  door  for  the  presentation  of 
Christian  truth. 

In  his  early  years  in  Japan,  his  writing  for  the 
Japanese  press  was  done  in  English  and  translated  by 
some  competent  Japanese.  His  later  work,  however, 
was  done  by  dictating  in  the  higher  colloquial  to  a 
secretary  who  afterwards  made  the  necessary  literary 
changes  for  print.  Mr.  Katagiri,  whom  we  have 
already  met  in  the  out-station  work,  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Sendai  Kumiai  Church  in  1897,  and 
from  that  time  shared  my  father's  work  as  his  able 
literary  helper.  Their  friendship  was  a  close  one,  and 
in  this  friendship  and  others  like  it,  bound  by  Christian 
ties,  lay  the  stimulus  to  the  erecting  of  the  DeForest 
Memorial  Church  in  Sendai. 


THE  MISSIOJSTAEY  211 

Another  close  friendship  was  with  Kev.  D.  B.  Schne- 
der,  of  the  German  Kef  ormed  Mission  in  Sendai.  During 
the  last  ten  years  of  my  father's  life,  Dr.  Schneder  and 
he,  as  the  two  Americans  of  longest  residence  in  Sendai, 
were  frequently  associated  in  council  and  activities. 
Dr.  Schneder,  as  president  of  the  North  Japan  College, 
had  an  opportunity  of  experience  and  knowledge  that 
supplemented  my  father's  in  his  less  organized  form  of 
work  ;  and  in  their  consultations  and  exchanges  of 
thought  there  grew  up  between  them  a  spiritual 
sympathy  outliving  the  occasions  that  bore  and  fos- 
tered it. 

His  closest  friendships  in  America  were  those  of  col- 
lege days,  which  seemed  only  to  strengthen  as  the  years 
went  by.  He  was  intensely  loyal  to  his  Alma  Mater, 
loving  her  more  as  the  years  showed  him  what  she  had 
done  for  him.  To  be  a  Yale  man  he  felt  was  a  distinct 
advantage  to  him  in  his  work,  often  giving  him  a 
favourable  introduction  as  from  a  college  well  known 
in  Japan.  He  attended  when  possible  the  Yale-Harvard 
alumni  dinners  in  Tokyo,  and  rejoiced  in  this  opportu- 
nity of  showing  his  college  spirit,  as  well  as  of  getting 
acquainted  with  both  Japanese  and  Americans  that 
shared  his  college  inheritance. 

An  additional  link  with  Yale  came  when  the  univer- 
sity conferred  upon  him  in  1889  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity,  in  recognition — to  quote  the  official  notifica- 
tion— "  of  your  success  in  the  difficult  field  to  which 
you  have  been  called,  and  thus  to  remind  you  that 
faithful  labour  in  such  a  field,  however  distant,  is 
eagerly  followed  and  warmly  appreciated  by  those  who 
care  for  the  interests  of  Christian  learning  here."  His 
pleasure  in  this  unexpected  sign  of  appreciation  was 


212  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

sincere,  for  he  felt  that  it  honoured  the  cause  to  which 
he  had  given  his  life ;  but  it  humbled  him  with  a  sense 
of  his  own  unfitness  and  the  belief  that  Yale  had  other 
men  in  the  same  fields  of  labour  more  worthy  of  it  than 
he.  "  I  have  no  idea  how  it  happened  to  strike  me — 
this  Yale  lightning,"  he  wrote  his  mother.  "Every 
day  a  laugh  goes  up  over  me — it  is  so  funny.  The 
trouble  is,  it  will  never  cease  to  be  funny,  and  I  shall 
have  this  burden  to  bring  my  gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to 
the  grave — provided  the  hair  holds  out." 

In  our  family  life,  the  long  separation  between  father 
and  growing  children  was  of  course  a  regrettable  neces- 
sity. But  it  had  one  compensation  in  the  intimate  cor- 
respondence that  arose  between  them.  His  letters  were 
pervaded  with  a  warm  human  quality  that  made  every 
word  alive  with  his  personality ;  and  to  his  children  he 
wrote  with  such  commingling  of  the  grave  and  the  gay 
as  only  an  instinctive  father  could.  Anticipating  the  sep- 
aration, our  parents  had  from  early  childhood  trained 
us  to  self-dependence  in  action  and  principles  ;  and  pa- 
rental authority,  though  strictly  maintained,  was  never 
arbitrary.  Hence  one  of  his  children's  richest  legacies 
was  the  faith  he  had  in  them.  He  could  write  to  a 
daughter  in  the  midst  of  college  perplexities :  "  When- 
ever you  find  that  your  judgment  differs  from  ours,  I 
want  you  to  feel  at  perfect  liberty  to  follow  yours. 
For  we  cannot  see  things  in  the  same  light  at  this 
distance."  "  I  often  refer  in  my  sermons  to  my 
children,  as  helping  me  to  explain  the  relation  of  God 
to  men,"  he  wrote  at  another  time.  If  his  own  ex- 
perience of  fatherhood  helped  him  to  understand  the 
heart  of  God,  so  none  the  less  did  his  fatherhood  in- 
terpret to  his  growing  children  as  nothing  else  could 


THE  MISSIONAKY  213 

have  done  the  meaning  of  the  Name  Christ  gave  when 
He  taught  us  to  say,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven." 

I  do  not  remember  that  my  father  ever  talked  to 
any  of  us  about  becoming  missionaries,  except  as  we 
broached  the  question.  His  own  enthusiasm  for  the 
greatness  of  his  calling  kept  that  calling  ever  before 
us ;  but  he  always  emphasized  character  above  occupa- 
tion, and  gave  God's  claim  to  the  love  and  service  of 
every  human  being  the  priority  over  the  question  of  the 
form  that  service  should  take.  None  the  less,  however, 
did  he  glory  in  the  form  of  service  to  which  God  had 
led  him.  Once  when  he  was  on  a  journey  with  his 
small  son,  the  two  stepped  out  at  a  station  to  watch  the 
engine  and  the  work  of  the  train  hands.  Lost  in  ad- 
miration for  the  men  and  their  activities,  the  boy  looked 
up  and  said,  "  Papa,  why  don't  you  be  somebody — an 
engineer  or  a  conductor,  or  something  f  "  A  more  so- 
phisticated friend  in  later  years  suggested  to  my  father 
that  a  diplomatic  position  in  the  Orient  would  give  freer 
scope  to  his  powers  than  merely  being  a  missionary 
could  do.  But  the  thought  offered  no  temptation.  To 
him  there  was  no  calling  of  greater  opportunity  and 
greater  glory  than  that  of  his  ambassadorship  for 
Christ.     To  fulfill  this  was  his  highest  ideal. 

"  We  are  here  to  pass  on  to  others,  not  a  creed,  nor 
the  Bible  as  such,  but  an  influence,"  he  once  said  to  me. 
This  he  conceived  was  what  Christ  did,  and  what  His 
representatives  should  do.  This  conception  of  his 
mission  made  upon  the  man  a  demand  for  the  fullest 
perfecting  of  his  every  power  and  for  his  fullest  hu- 
manity, that  it  might  be  the  better  medium  for  trans- 
mitting the  influence  of  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

I  append  a  few  extracts  selected  with  difficulty  from 


214  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

the  wealth  of  his  family  correspondence  covering  many 
years. 

At  Mission  Meeting. 
"  At  the  table  to-night  we  had  an  uproarious  time. 
I  told  some  of  my  college  experiences,  and  after  a  while 
Sydney  Gulick  remarked,  without  a  smile,  '  You  must 
have  been  converted  since  then  ! '  It  added  to  the  fun. 
I  remarked,  '  Just  as  though  once  would  have  been 
enough ! '  Indeed,  it  really  seems  as  though  I  had  been 
converted  many  times.  New  experiences  and  a  break- 
ing away  from  old  thoughts  and  lower  ideals  seem  like 
a  new  life." 

"  I  have  a  pretty  little  story  to  tell  you, — at  least,  it 
seemed  very  sweet  to  me. 

"  At  Mizusawa,  seventy  miles  north,  lives  a  Christian 
family  .  .  .  whose  youngest  little  girl  is  only  four  or 
five  years  old.  She  heard  her  parents  talking  about  the 
missionary's  coming  soon ;  so  one  morning  when  she 
waked  up,  she  asked  her  parents,  '  When  will  Christ 
come  ? '  They  didn't  catch  on  at  first,  but  soon  found 
she  had  mixed  Christ  and  me.  They  told  me  this  last 
Sunday  evening  when  I  was  calling  at  their  home. 
.  .  .  How  splendid  a  thing  it  would  be  to  have 
people  think  of  me  as  so  much  like  Christ !  I  felt  that 
the  little  one's  question  was  a  divine  message  to  me  to 
be  better  and  to  carry  far  more  of  love  and  joy  to  those 
around  me." 

"  I  got  back  with  Mamma  last  night  after  three 
weeks  of  the  hardest  touring  I've  ever  done  [in  the 
Hokkaido],  and  with  the  least  food  within  me  ;  but  it 


THE  MISSIONAEY  215 

was  the  best  spiritually  I've  ever  had.  ...  At  one 
meeting,  the  most  exciting  one,  a  young  man  fell  in  a 
fit  of  epilepsy,  the  worst  enemy  of  Christianity  in  those 
regions  was  converted,  and  one  of  the  strongest  Chris, 
tians  sobbed  aloud ;  I  began  to  suspect  the  devil  was  to 
pay,  and  decided  to  cuff  his  ears,  but  the  meeting 
quieted  down  and  was  a  rare  one  in  its  results.  It  was 
at  a  little  village  where  were  but  few  Christians,  and 
they  proposed  to  raise  twenty-five  yen  for  a  shed  in 
which  to  teach  a  Sunday-school.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  get  the  money  at  first,  but  it  ended  in  one  Christian's 
giving  twenty-live  yen;  the  shed  is  to  be  a  church 
costing  three  hundred  and  fifty  yen,  and  the  Christians 
are  going  to  spend  Sundays  in  the  woods  cutting  down 
trees  and  floating  the  timber  down  the  river  for  the 
new  church  !  It's  the  Lord's  house  to  be  built  by  labour 
on  the  Lord's  day !  I  thought  it  a  fine  idea  of  these 
uncultured  Christians  to  consecrate  their  time  and 
money  this  way.  .  .  .  Well,  Mamma  stands  tour- 
ing like  a  *  tough,'  .  .  .  crossing  swift  rivers  with 
the  water  up  to  the  saddle  and  the  pony  bracing  to  save 
being  washed  into  the  pony-spirit-world.  .  .  .  She 
led  some  meetings,  modestly  declaring  she  couldn't. 
She  endured  friendly  fleas  with  something  almost  like 
patience.  She  naturally  would  have  been  the  one  to 
fall  off  her  horse,  but  it  was  I  who  did  it,  with  my 
horse  at  a  dead  gallop  and  beyond  my  control.  Ordi- 
narily it  would  have  killed  me,  and  the  next  Missionary 
Herald  would  have  had  my  picture  and  a  sketch  of 
my  life ;  but  being  done  on  a  sand-dune,  I  ricochetted 
like  a  cannon-ball, — the  sand  flying  like  spray, — and 
got  only  a  bruised  hip  and  two  kicks  from  my  horse. 
Glorious  to  be  a  missionary  !  " 


216  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

"  It's  a  long  time  since  I've  written  you,  for  my  two 
weeks  in  Aizu  were  pretty  well  filled  in  with  addresses, 
consultations,  and,  for  a  wonder,  with  mountain-climbing. 
Somehow  I  didn't  feel  very  full  of  life,  and  only  a  few 
of  my  addresses  were  full  of  get-up.  I  found  an  unusual 
amount  of  trouble  and  perplexity  on  the  part  of  the 
evangelists  and  prominent  Christians,  and  I  had  to  have 
my  sympathies  pretty  well  stretched.  I  also  ran  into 
some  new  experiences  that  fretted  me.  For  one  thing, 
I  discovered  that  the  bath-tub  of  one  hotel  was  filled 
from  the  town-drain  !  — where  all  street  filth  enters  and 
where  the  public  wash  their  clothes,  babies,  dishes,  etc. 
Of  course  the  water  was  a  rather  swift-flowing  stream 
and  looked  pretty  clean,  but  all  the  same  I  didn't  like 
my  baths  in  that  hotel  after  that.  ...  I  noticed 
that  John  the  Baptist  might  have  had  a  good  time  in 
Aizu,  as  far  as  his  fare  of  locusts  is  concerned.  One  of 
the  evangelists  said  he  was  treated  to  these  crisp  insects 
at  one  house  where  he  called,  but  not  being  used  to 
such  fare,  he  couldn't  eat  them.  .  .  .  This  reminds 
me  of  what  probably  you  heard  long  ago  :  when  translat- 
ing the  Bible  in  Hawaii  [Micronesia  ?],  where  neither 
locusts  nor  wild  honey  were  known  and  for  which  there 
were  no  names,  the  nearest  the  pious  translators  could 
come  was  to  say,  'His  food  was  cockroaches  and 
molasses ' !  " 

"  Dysentery  is  prevalent  all  through  my  field,  and 
there  are  many  places  where  all  meetings  are  forbidden 
until  November  15th ;  so  I  skipped  down  here  where 
diseases  don't  flourish,  and  am  making  seven  addresses 
in  a  week.  .  .  .  There's  no  doubt  some  good  is 
done  by  rushing  around  and  speaking  with  conviction 


THE  MISSIOtfAKY  217 

about  God  and  Christ,  and  I  get  good  attention  and 
enjoy  the  work.  But  without  personal  work,  such  gen- 
eral work  as  this  tends  to  evaporate.  I  must  get  at 
individuals  this  winter  more  and  more." 

1898. 
"  I  have  a  new  tract  in  the  works,  called  '  The  Japa- 
nese Family.'  I  argue  the  case  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  new  family  law,  which  is  very  much  below  the 
level  of  our  laws  in  two  respects :  (1)  Marriage  is  a 
simple  contract,  just  about  like  any  other  contract,  and 
takes  no  account  of  the  fact  that  new  relations  are 
thereby  croated  that  lift  the  contract  on  to  a  high  and 
new  plane.  (2)  Divorce  therefore  is  at  the  convenience 
of  the  two  parties  concerned,  and  can  take  place  any 
time  with  no  judicial  interference  !  In  case  only  one 
party  wants  divorce,  the  case  may  be  taken  to  the 
court.  I  give  the  customs  and  laws  of  the  West  on 
these  points,  and  end  by  asserting  that  Christianity  is 
the  moral  force  that  has  given  us  our  ideal  family  life." 

Hokkaido. 
"  It  is  pleasant  to  find  that  three  of  the  workers  up 
here  heard  the  Gospel  first  from  me, — two  in  Tottori : 
one  a  woman  who  heard  me  in  the  theatre ;  she  is  the 
Bible- woman  here.  One  is  pastor  of  the  independent 
church  in  Uragawa,  who  went  to  the  theatre  at  Tottori 
to  hear  me,  but  couldn't  get  in  for  the  crowd.  So  he 
got  around  till  he  found  a  crack  in  the  walls,  and  lis- 
tened. He  heard  me  say  it  was  unreasonable  to  hope 
to  know  things  fully  before  believing :  people  ride  in 
cars  without  dreaming  of  understanding  all  about  the 
engine,  etc.     He  said  it  disposed  him  to  believe." 


218  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

On  hoard  a  Japanese  steamer. 
"  I've  just  had  a  nice  talk  with  one  of  the  officers  on 
'  Immortality.'  He  asked  me  about  it,  and  I  went  at  it 
philosophically  and  he  seemed  really  much  interested. 
Then  I  said  to  him,  '  We  Christians  have  a  much  shorter 
way  of  settling  the  question — it  is  by  the  Kesurrection.' 
Instantly  his  face  fell,  his  interest  was  gone.  '  That 
kind  of  argument  has  no  force  with  us,'  he  said.  I  told 
him  I  knew  that,  but  when  a  man  once  got  where  he 
was  really  hungry  for  hope,  there  was  nothing  to  com- 
pare with  the  Resurrection.  Perhaps  it  will  be  a 
thought  in  his  soul  that  will  abide." 

Sendai,  1897. 
"  Went  to  church  as  usual,  but  only  fifteen  were  at 
the  preaching.  It  looks  as  if  it  would  take  a  long  time 
to  build  up  strong  organic  work.  Spurts  fit  Japan. 
Great  holidays  and  sacred  days  when  the  whole  people 
can  turn  out,  and  then  rest  off  another  half-year, — this 
is  what  Buddhism  has  educated  the  people  into.  How- 
ever, '  the  Kingdom  is  the  Lord's,'  and  in  other  ways 
God  is  blessing  the  nation." 

Sendai,  1897. 
"  A  new  experience  befell  me  to-day.  I've  been  to 
the  court-house  at  the  trial  of  S.  [a  Japanese  Christian]. 
This  affair  has  created  great  excitement  in  Sendai.  He 
is  charged  with  misappropriating  money  contributed 
for  tidal-wave  sufferers.  He  certainly  is  faulty  and 
careless  in  his  handling  of  it.  I  was  pleased  with  the 
pleasant  and  gentlemanly  way  the  judge  questioned 
him.  I  myself  was  reproved  twice  by  the  censor,  once 
for  having  on  my  overcoat,  and  once  for  sitting  with 


THE  MISSIOXAEY  219 

crossed  legs ! !  We  had  the  lawyer  here  to  tea  to-night, 
and  had  a  nice  talk  about  law  and  customs.  I  told  him 
how  little  we  thought  of  clothes  and  etiquette  of  such 
a  kind,  and  how  much  more  we  thought  of  character. 
He  was  immensely  surprised  to  hear  me  say  I  saw  our 
Ambassador  Bingham  stand  beside  the  Emperor  with 
overcoat  on  at  the  opening  of  the  railroad  at  Osaka 
twenty-two  years  ago.  He  made  a  note  of  it  and  said 
he  would  write  it  up  for  the  papers.  ...  I  go 
again  to  the  trial  to-morrow,  and  if  it  is  cold  I  propose 
to  ask  permission  to  keep  my  overcoat  on  '  on  account 
of  sickness,'  this  being  a  universal  lie  in  Japan  which 
will  apply  to  an  inch  or  two  on  my  shoulders  that  feel 
like  rheumatism  ! "  Two  days  later. — "  I  was  at  S.'s  trial 
yesterday  and  the  day  before.  It's  a  new  thing  here  to 
have  a  Christian  on  trial,  and  new  to  see  foreigners  in 
the  court-room.  I  took  the  occasion  to  study  up  the 
affair  to  see  how  the  courts  will  work  when  we  are 
prisoners.  S.'s  three  lawyers  did  well ;  one  is  a  Chris- 
tian. ...  I  spent  two  or  three  hours  with  this 
lawyer,  and  am  quite  satisfied  that  the  French  system 
here  is  on  the  whole  just  and  careful,  though  quite  dif- 
ferent from  ours.  I  mean  to  write  it  up  if  I  can  get 
time — for  my  own  sake  and  others."  Nine  days 
later. — "  ...  I  thought  I'd  go  and  see  S.  in  prison. 
.  .  .  I  went  with  no  introduction,  and  asked  to  see 
S.  I  was  sent  to  the  inner  office,  where  my  business 
was  inquired  into ;  but  as  I  had  none,  I  was  refused. 
Then  it  occurred  to  me  to  ask  permission  to  see  the 
prison  inside.  This  was  a  poser  to  the  attendant,  but  he 
went  off  and  pretty  soon  invited  me  into  the  visitors' 
room,  and  the  head  officer  came  in.  I  told  him  frankly 
how  foreigners  were  feeling  on  coming  under  Japanese 


220  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

law,  and  how  I  wanted  to  see  for  myself,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  tell  from  my  own  observation.  '  For  instance,' 
I  said,  *  I  hear  S.  is  confined  in  a  dark  cell.'  He  jumped 
up  and  cautiously  opened  a  window  and  pointed  down 
into  the  court.  '  There  he  is.'  And  I  saw  he  was  in  a 
light  cell  with  books.  After  a  little  talk,  he  said  he 
himself  would  show  me  around.  So  I  spent  two  hours 
there  and  saw  pretty  much  everything,  I  should  judge ; 
and  he  unhesitatingly  answered  all  my  questions.  It 
was  a  good  thing  to  have  spent  a  morning  thus." 

"I've  finished  my  article  on  'Japanese  Criminal 
Law,'  and  shall  send  it  to  the  Independent.  As  usual, 
I  can't  tell  whether  it  will  be  regarded  as  worth  any- 
thing. I  show  it  up  with  the  prison  system  in  con- 
nection with  the  apprehension  of  foreigners  at  the  com- 
ing abolition  of  extraterritoriality.  It  has  cost  me 
a  lot  of  time  and  inquiry,  but  it  has  paid  to  study  up 
the  system— it's  a  shame  I  didn't  do  it  before." 

"  I  scribble  away  at  topics  that  occur  to  me  as  I  have 
time.  It  does  me  good,  and  widens  my  horizon  to 
study  things  that  seem  way  outside  my  work,  but  I 
find  it  pays.  I  send  you  my  latest  on  '  Asama '  [vol- 
cano]." 

"  All  my  fears  that  my  Independent  article  wouldn't 
be  accepted  came  to  naught,  and  Mamma  emphatically 
affirms,  '  I  told  you  so.'  Curious,  isn't  it  ? — this  phrase 
is  inspired,  or  its  equivalent  is — '  Ye  ought  to  have 
hearkened  unto  me  ! '  Acts  xxvii.  21.  Well,  it's  often  a 
great  relief  to  have  things  happen  as  '  I  said,'  and  even 
Paul  must  have  felt  a  bit  nice  as  he  got  off  the  above. 


THE  MISSIONAEY  221 

I  got  twenty  dollars  for  it,  and  now  am  going  to  order 
some  books — a  thing  I've  refrained  from  doing  for  a 
year  or  two,  and  I  can't  stand  it  much  longer." 

Sakata,  1897. 
"  M.  got  the  teachers  to  invite  me  to  address  them  in 
one  of  the  Sho  Gakko  [primary  schools].  They  were 
very  particular  about  it,  didn't  want  any  religion. 
.  .  .  The  principal,  in  introducing  me,  expressly 
said  that  though  I  was  a  Christian  missionary,  I  had 
been  asked  not  to  mention  Christianity.  .  .  .  The 
audience  comprised  the  teachers  of  several  schools,  the 
village  head,  and  prominent  men  from  near  villages,  so 
that  I  had  about  sixty  adults  and  two  hundred  small 
students.  I  looked  at  the  children,  and  fired  away  for 
the  benefit  of  the  adults.  Then  there  was  an  after- 
meeting  of  an  hour  for  tea  and  cake  and  questions  of 
all  sorts.  ...  I  found  it  was  a  fine  thing  for  a 
missionary  to  know  lots  of  things  besides  shukyo  [re- 
ligion]. The  leading  citizens  and  others  fired  questions 
of  all  sorts  at  me — on  geology  of  Japan,  when  made, 
difference  between  Japanese  coal  and  ours,  how  the 
globe  was  made,  etc.,  etc.  Of  course  they  were  spe- 
cially interested  to  learn  how  the  Sakata  region  was 
formed ;  it's  very  simple,  and  I  could  tell  at  a  glance. 
Then  they  asked  about  farming  in  the  United  States, 
and  were  amazed  at  the  way  Western  farmers  use  ma- 
chinery for  this  work.  Then  about  raising  rice,  silk, 
wheat,  etc.  At  last  they  asked  about  the  distinctive 
tenets  of  Christianity,  and  I  had  my  chance  there  to 
tell  them  about  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  consequent  Brotherhood  of  Man,  with  the  result  as 
seen  in  the  history  of  Western  nations.     It  is  the  first 


222  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOBEST 

time  since  my  return  to  Japan  that  I've  had  so  fine  a 
chance  and  so  steady  and  polite  questionings." 

"  February  22d. 
"  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  tell  a  fib  and  write 
for  the  date  '  February  23d,'  but  my  bringing  up  rather 
militates  against  jumping  time  even  for  your  birthday. 
But  to-morrow  is  Sunday,  and  I've  got  a  contract  to 
deliver  a  lecture  on  '  The  Evolution  of  Patriotism  '  in  a 
schoolhouse  five  miles  south  of  here.  That,  too,  rather 
militates  against  my  bringing  up.  But  I  like  to  accept 
the  few  invitations  I  get  to  speak  in  schools,  so  that  I 
may  win  some  even  by  that  means.  Of  course  the 
teaching  of  religion  in  any  public  school  is  forbidden, 
so  I  take  the  above  subject,  and  mean  to  show  its  vital 
relation  to  religion.  It  is  a  historic  fact  that  the  first 
impulse  towards  building  a  nation  is  from  religion. 
And  here  in  Japan  the  ancient  word  for  government  is 
the  religious  rites.  So  I  have  ample  room  to  edge  up 
to  our  religion  and  leave  it  there." 

"  A  visit  to  the  big  [prefectural]  prison  here,  for  an 
interview  with  two  prisoners,  is  a  rather  new  event  in 
my  career,  being  the  second  time  I've  been  called. 
The  men  had  read  some  of  my  publications  and  wanted 
to  ask  me  about  God  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  both 
wanted  to  join  the  church  when  released  next  year." 

"  Isn't  it  queer  how  we  are  led  by  what  seem  trifles  ? 
I'm  reading  novels  nowadays  with  all  the  vim  possi- 
ble ;  I  read  fifty  pages  yesterday.  It  came  about  this 
way :  one  of  my  old  students  became  very  profligate 
and  wasted  four  years  in  riotous  living.    Then  a  Japa- 


THE  MISSIONAEY  223 

nese  novel  on  Christian  lines  arrested  his  attention  and 
brought  him  to  repentance.  He  came  and  made  a  full 
confession.     So  I  bought  the  book." 

TaJcata,  1902. 
"I  brought  along  a  Japanese  novel — 'The  Cherry- 
Blossom  of  the  Morning  Sun,'  or,  '  The  Spirit  that 
Dominates  Japan.'  I  find  lots  of  new  things  in  novels 
nowadays.  I  see  as  never  before  the  deep  and  ruling 
ideas  that  have  conserved  Old  Japan  and  that  enable 
New  Japan  to  catch  on  to  our  civilization  so  easily. 
The  intense  desire  to  keep  the  family  line  from  dying 
out  is  one  of  these  most  prominent  ruling  ideas.  I'm 
doing  more  novel  reading  than  I  ever  dreamed  of,  and 
the  knowledge  gained  is  a  real  help  in  sympathetic 
preaching." 

"  I'm  glad  you  are  taking  ethics  for  one  of  your 
courses  ;  especially  if  you  are  coming  to  Japan.  This 
is  one  of  the  burning  questions  of  this  people  now  ; 
many  volumes  are  continually  coming  out.  So  I  have 
a  lecture  on  '  Universal  Ethics'  that  is  everywhere  well 
received,  though  some  of  my  hearers  criticize  it  pretty 
severely.  My  heads  you  would  be  at  a  loss  to  guess. 
They  are:  Suicide,  Lying,  Drunkenness,  and  Unchas- 
tity.  Of  course  I  have  to  be  careful  how  I  sail  into 
such  themes,  for  they  are  vital  to  this  people.  But  I 
take  it  historically,  and  so  relieve  it  of  some  of  its  ag. 
gressive  nature.  I  also  plan  to  speak  sympathetically, 
for  when  one  has  lost  the  sympathy  of  his  audience, 
the  game  is  up.     Indeed,  it  is  better  not  to  speak  at  all." 

"  What  a  life  touring  is  !  I've  been  out  now  about 
two  weeks  and  have  two  more.    Mght  after  night  I 


224  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

am  at  it  with  audiences  until  twelve  o'clock.  Then  I 
swap  off  and  have  an  afternoon  meeting,  hoping  to  rest 
early  in  the  evening,  but  a  caller  prevents.  I  have  rice 
and  raw  eggs  sometimes  three  times  a  day ;  but  last 
night  I  had  a  chicken  stew  on  my  hibachi,  and  managed 
to  put  away  four  bowls  of  rice  too.  And  as  Mamma 
sent  me  a  box  of  cocoa,  I  topped  off  with  some  of  that, 
and  stale  crackers.  But  the  audiences  are  so  nice  that 
I  really  enjoy  my  food ;  and  I  feel  that  God  is  using 
me  to  help  bring  the  great  East  and  the  powerful  West 
together  in  a  brotherhood  founded  in  one  deep  faith." 


VII 

The  Expansion  of  the  Message 


«« We  limit  not  the  truth  of  God 
To  our  poor  reach  of  mind, 
By  notions  of  our  day  and  sect, 
Crude,  partial,  and  confined. 

"  Who  dares  to  bind  to  his  dull  sense 
The  oracles  of  heaven, 
For  all  the  nations,  tongues,  and  climes, 
And  all  the  ages  given  ?  " 

—  G.  Rawson. 

«  For  the  love  of  God  is  broader 

Than  the  measure  of  man's  mind, 
And  the  heart  of  the  Eternal 
Is  most  wonderfully  kind." 

—F.  W.  Faber. 


VII 
THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE 

WE  have  already  seen  how  the  type  of  the 
audience  affected  the  missionary's  method 
of  presenting  Christianity ;  how  his  sense 
of  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  hearer  led  him  to  take 
his  stand  now  on  apologetics,  now  on  the  essentials  of 
Christian  morality,  now  on  the  need  for  decision,  now 
on  the  entering  in  upon  the  riches  of  the  high  calling 
of  the  children  of  God.  There  was  beneath  the  vary- 
ing forms  of  presentation  a  profound  growth  within  his 
own  soul  in  his  conception  and  understanding  of  his 
message. 

There  were  two  converging  lines  of  thought  and  ex- 
perience in  this  development :  his  study  of  the  products 
of  Western  thought  in  philosophy,  history,  and  theology ; 
and  his  study  of  the  products  of  Eastern  thought  as 
seen  in  the  religions,  ideals,  and  history  of  Japan.  The 
former  was  the  result  of  his  intellectual  awakening  in 
his  early  forties  ;  the  latter,  of  his  resolution  at  about 
the  same  time  to  acquire  the  Japanese  point  of  view. 

The  former  had  its  closest  relation  to  his  work  as  a 
missionary  through  its  relation  to  the  Bible.  In  his 
early  years  in  the  ministry,  when  the  wave  of  Biblical 
criticism  was  invading  America,  he,  like  many  others, 
had  feared  its  influence  upon  the  authority  of  the  Chris- 
tian Scriptures  and  had  shrunk  from  the  destructive- 

227 


228  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

ness  that  seemed  at  first  its  most  striking  characteristic. 
Then  gradually  came  this  thought,  as  he  himself  ex- 
pressed it : 

"  We  may  have  to  change  our  theory  of  inspiration. 
.  .  .  Our  fathers  modified  their  ideas  of  God  and 
the  Bible,  and  based  their  creeds  and  theologies  on  their 
growing  knowledge  and  their  larger  environment :  and 
their  God  was  all  the  more  a  living  God  to  them,  and 
their  Bible  all  the  better  for  the  enlarged  interpreta- 
tion they  reverently  made.  In  like  manner  our  en- 
vironment has  vastly  increased,  bringing  immense 
treasures  of  new  knowledge,  and  we  should  not  be  true 
to  the  spirit  of  our  fathers  unless  we  were  ready,  in  the 
face  of  new  facts,  to  change  our  ideas  about  God,  about 
the  Bible,  about  the  world,  and  about  our  inherited 
creeds  and  theologies." 

This  was  the  kind  of  argument  he  heard  his  Japa- 
nese friends  use  with  their  countrymen  for  open-mind ed- 
ness  towards  the  religion  of  Christ.  Could  he,  with  the 
words  of  Christ  in  his  ears,  "  The  truth  shall  make  you 
free,"  be  less  bold  in  the  pursuit  of  that  truth  than  the 
people  to  whom  he  was  trying  to  bring  the  knowledge 
of  it  ?  Then,  too,  his  studies  in  science,  history,  and 
philosophy  were  raising  a  crowd  of  questions  that  he 
could  not  honestly  ignore.  "  The  new  knowledge  of 
man  that  is  flooding  the  world,"  he  afterwards  wrote, 
"  forced  me  to  questions  in  many  directions.  By  what 
methods  was  this  book  [the  Bible]  made  ?  How  hap- 
pens it  to  record  stories  that  my  reason  would  at  once 
reject  if  I  found  them  in  the  records  of  any  other  re- 
ligion ?  Why  should  my  faith  in  God  and  in  Christ  be 
loaded  and  burdened  with  faith  in  ancient  traditions 
and  reputed  miracles  and  unscientific  statements  ?    I 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       229 

should  have  given  up  my  Bible,  I  would  have  discarded 
the  title  of  minister  and  missionary,  had  not  relief  been 
found  in  the  evolutionary  knowledge  of  the  methods 
by  which  God  works." 

Many  members  of  the  American  Board  mission  spent 
their  summer  vacations  for  a  good  part  of  the  eighties 
and  nineties  tenting  on  the  sacred  mountain  of  Hiei 
near  Kyoto.  Here  they  often  held  their  annual  meet- 
ing of  reports  and  conferences  about  the  work.  Hither 
they  brought  their  Japanese  teachers  and  studied. 
Here  they  had  short  courses  of  study  for  their  children, 
to  many  of  whom  the  association  with  other  American 
children  made  those  summer  weeks  one  exciting  gala- 
day.  Here  was  the  chapel  tent,  sacred  in  the  memories 
of  many  of  the  mission  children  who  there  first  pro- 
fessed their  allegiance  to  Christ.  Here  also  were 
weekly  prayer-meetings,  lectures,  entertainments,  that 
made  the  community  life  richer  and  closer.  Sometimes 
those  who  were  to  contribute  to  this  community  life 
were  given  long  notice  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1892  my 
father,  already  interested  in  methods  of  modern  Bib- 
lical investigation,  was  asked  to  lead  the  next  summer's 
Bible  class  of  missionaries  on  Deuteronomy.  As  the 
views  of  modern  criticism  on  this  book  have  a  far- 
reaching  bearing  upon  a  large  part  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, his  preparation  for  this  class  involved  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  grounds  in  general  on  which  the  conclusions 
of  critical  scholarship  rest.  He  found  this  most  stimu- 
lating and  enlightening.  Half  of  the  class  held  a  week- 
day meeting  for  fuller  discussion  of  the  technical  ques- 
tions than  was  desirable  in  the  Sunday  session.  Great 
was  the  helpfulness  of  these  meetings  to  the  leader  at 
least,  for  the  discussion  of  mature  minds  and  reverent 


230  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

spirits  of  a  variety  of  moulds  gave  breadth  of  view,  and 
safeguarded  conclusions. 

It  took  time,  however,  for  this  new  head  knowledge 
to  become  assimilated  into  heart  knowledge, — for  its 
bearings  upon  life  to  grow  into  his  experience.  For 
years  he  was  cautious  about  uttering  his  acceptance  of 
Biblical  criticism  in  general ;  for  it  would  have  been  a 
Saul's  armour  to  him  instead  of  his  own  tested  stone 
and  sling.  If  it  was  true  that  the  revelation  of  God  in 
the  great  past  was  a  progressive  one,  growing  through 
the  ages;  if  it  was  true  that  the  early  beliefs  and 
institutions  of  the  Israelites  had  their  analogies  in  the 
nations  around  them  and  were  not  "  determined  in 
every  feature  by  a  direct  revelation  from  heaven," 
how  were  these  facts  to  affect  his  attitude  towards  the 
past  of  the  Japanese  people  ? — how  that  towards 
Buddhism  and  Shintoism  ? 

The  a  priori  conclusion  was  that  the  guiding  hand 
of  God  had  led  the  Japanese,  like  the  Israelites,  by 
using  their  environment  and  the  borrowed  or  inherited 
elements  of  their  religion  as  stepping-stones  in  the  path 
to  Christ.  This  conclusion,  moreover,  bore  the  test  of 
being  applied  to  the  history  of  the  Japanese.  As  his 
studies  of  their  past,  their  ideals,  their  moral  teachers, 
revealed  to  him  more  and  more  the  witness  to  Himself 
that  God  had  been  implanting  in  the  nation  during  its 
preparatory  centuries,  he  bowed  his  head  and  lifted  his 
heart  with  a  new  awe,  and  a  new  understanding  of  the 
greatness  and  the  glory  of  his  God.  No  longer  did  he 
fear  to  change  his  theory  of  inspiration  :  he  realized 
now  the  great  constructive  service  that  Biblical  criti- 
cism was  doing  for  him  ;  and  the  Bible  became  more 
living,  more  personal,  more  intimately  related  to  him 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       231 

and  the  work  God  had  given  him  to  do,  than  ever  be- 
fore.    As  he  expressed  it : 

"  We  are  learning  that  the  Word  of  God  is  of  no  use 
until  it  is  interpreted,  first  into  the  thought  of  the  age, 
and  second,  into  the  living  experiences  of  those  who 
teach  it.  Any  revelation  of  God  is  powerless  until  it 
is  the  discovery  of  man.  .  .  .  Whatever  in  the 
Bible  rebukes  my  Pharisaic  temper ;  makes  me  want 
to  live  a  higher  moral  life  towards  my  fellow-men; 
braces  me  when  tempted  and  discouraged ;  makes  me 
sweet-minded  towards  people  who  disagree  with  me ; 
enlarges  my  altogether  too  small  vision  of  God ;  brings 
Christ  into  my  daily  life  even  in  a  small  measure; 
helps  me  to  see  God  in  the  lives  of  others,  in  all 
churches, — Catholic,  Greek,  Protestant, — in  all  nations, 
whatever  the  colour  of  the  people ;  makes  my  message 
great ;  deepens  my  sympathies  with  these  peoples  of 
the  East  because  they  too  are  God's  dear  children :  is 
to  me  inspired.     Inspiration  is  intensely  personal." 

In  time,  when  the  new  knowledge  had  been  thus 
transmuted  into  spiritual  experience,  he  could  speak  it 
forth.  Not  that  he  preached  Biblical  criticism  as  such 
in  his  sermons  to  Japanese  audiences,  although  these 
sermons  were  filled  with  the  new  life  that  had  come  to 
his  own  spirit  through  its  study ;  but  in  Karuizawa, 
that  summer  centre  of  refreshment  and  invigoration 
for  Westerners  in  Japan,  when  asked  to  preach  to  his 
fellow-missionaries,  he  uttered  his  conviction  on  this 
matter  by  speaking  on  "The  Missionary's  Need  of 
Knowledge."  He  pointed  to  the  experience  of  the 
race  and  the  individual  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge 
through  the  two  parallel  lines  of  God's  revelation  and 
man's  discovery ;  and  urged  the  equal  necessity  of  both 


232  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

means  to  those  who  were  called  to  Christian  work  in 
Japan.  He  felt  that  too  conservative  a  stand  on  the 
part  of  some  missionaries,  in  view  of  the  new  knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible,  was  a  positive  hindrance  to  Chris- 
tianity in  Japan,  because  it  tended  to  produce  a  perma- 
nent dislike  of  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  Japanese 
thinkers.     To  quote : 

"  All  real  knowledge  of  God  is  to  be  accepted  with 
sincere  thanksgivings.  When  we  raise  our  higher 
criticism  to  the  rank  of  truth  that  the  Holy  Spirit  aids 
us  in  discovering,  when  we  find  in  political  economy, 
international  law,  and  sociology  the  same  basis  of  love 
that  lies  at  the  root  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  we 
are  better  equipped  for  the  great  intellectual  contest 
over  religion  that  the  next  ten  years  is  sure  to  witness 
in  this  land.     .     .     . 

"  We  are  in  the  very  centre  of  most  powerful  world 
movements  of  action  and  of  thought.  The  great  pan- 
theistic East  is  for  the  first  time  coming  in  close  con- 
tact with  the  great  theistic  West.  In  the  early  days 
we  were  inclined  to  think  the  victory  would  be  easy, 
because  we  took  the  promise  of  revelation  that  every 
tongue  should  confess  and  every  knee  bow.  But  the 
victory  will  come  through  us  only  in  proportion  as  our 
faith  is  rooted  in  knowledge.  Said  one  of  our  gifted 
Christian  scholars  in  America  to  me  ten  years  ago, 
'  You  missionaries  have  the  hardest  intellectual  prob- 
lems to  solve  that  have  ever  confronted  the  mind  of 
man.'  Think  of  that :  think  of  the  weighty  responsi- 
bility and  privilege  that  we  are  honoured  with.  The 
president  of  the  Imperial  University  ten  years  ago  sent 
out  his  challenge  to  the  missionaries  of  Japan,  saying, 
*  If  you  want  to  capture  Japan  for  Christ,  you  must 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       233 

first  capture  this  university.'  One  of  the  ablest 
officials  of  the  north  recently  said  to  me,  *  If  you  can 
show  us  that  Christianity  is  true,  we  shall  accept  it.' 

"  Friends,  the  work  of  converting  this  gifted  nation 
is  peculiarly  an  intellectual  task.  Whatever  application 
the  words,  '  Take  no  thought  what  ye  shall  say,'  may 
have  had  for  certain  ones  working  under  despotism, 
they  have  no  applicability  to  us  working  in  this  land 
of  liberty.  To  be  sure,  there  is  need  of  the  wide  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  this  people  to  convince  of  sin, 
to  illumine  the  conscience,  and  to  lead  to  sincere  re- 
pentance. But  there  is  also  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
the  God  of  the  intellect  upon  us,  who  are  blessed  with 
conditions  of  work  such  as  no  other  body  of  mission- 
aries ever  had,  and  who  have  an  intellectual  task  of 
vaster  proportions  than  ever  fell  to  prophets  or 
apostles." 

Another  summer  it  had  been  borne  in  upon  him  that 
in  the  great  missionary  community  of  Japan,  with  its 
representatives  of  the  most  varied  and  diverse  sects, 
there  was  in  places,  towards  new  lines  of  thought,  a 
repressive  atmosphere  that  threatened  to  stifle  newer 
missionaries  of  other  training  and  beliefs  than  some  of 
their  predecessors  on  the  field ;  then,  with  the  sense  of 
being  called  to  a  task  that  he,  like  Jeremiah,  shrank 
from  but  accepted,  he  summoned  his  fellow-missionaries 
to  an  open-minded  consideration  of  truth  in  all  its  forms, 
and  to  a  generous  practice  of  "  The  Glorious  Liberty  of 
the  Sons  of  God." 

"  In  the  discovery  of  new  fragments  of  God's  limit- 
less truth,"  he  said,  "  we  in  our  day  and  for  our  time 
have  God-given  problems  reverently  to  face,  even  if  we 
cannot  fully  solve  them.     And  my  prayer  for  myself 


234  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

and  for  all  the  society  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of 
God  is  that  we  may  have  the  same  fearless  faith  in  the 
truth  that  the  Eisen  Christ  inspired  in  His  greatest 
apostle,  and  in  His  greatest  of  reformers  and  preachers 
and  prophets  and  teachers  ever  since. 

"  There  is  no  atmosphere  but  that  of  the  liberty  of 
the  Sons  of  God  in  which  it  is  possible  to  solve  even 
approximately  the  questions  that  ceaselessly  confront 
us.  When  I  think  that  the  Christian  life  and  purpose 
of  multitudes  hang  upon  our  right  attitude  towards 
these  new  problems,  and  that  we  ignore  these  some- 
times at  the  peril  of  our  intellectual  honesty,  and 
possibly  incurring  the  danger  of  our  spiritual  degrada- 
tion, I  feel  a  burden  upon  me  that  I  cannot  refuse  to 
bear.  I  have  an  experience  of  thirty-five  years  in  the 
ministry  of  this  Gospel,  during  which  I  have  suffered 
periods  of  mingled  doubt  and  faith,  trying  to  be  honest 
with  God  and  with  myself :  also  trying  to  be  true  to 
the  traditional  teachings  of  my  fathers,  and  to  the 
splendid  fellowship  of  the  saints  who  are  giving  the 
Gospel  to  the  peoples  of  the  East. 

"  This,  brothers  and  sisters,  is  a  great  complex  prob- 
lem that  has  come  to  stay,  until  it  is  so  solved  as 
to  bring  us  a  richer  faith  and  a  more  blessed  fellow- 
ship. "When  I  look  over  this  Karuizawa  audience,  one 
thought  is  :  here  surely  is  a  Society  of  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  God.  We  meet  here  with  all  varieties  of 
religious  experience,  that  are  due  to  our  education  and 
environment  on  the  outside,  and  to  the  workings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  within.  In  such  a  society  as  this,  the 
blessedness  of  our  fellowship  lies  in  our  mutual  freedom, 
— which  shall  never  become  a  cloak  for  selfish  in- 
dividualism. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       235 

"  Let  us  live,  then,  and  work  together,  none  living 
unto  himself,  all  being  bearers  of  one  another's  burdens, 
generously  trusting  each  other;  not  tolerating  each 
other, — for  there  is  no  strength  nor  love  nor  sympathy 
nor  blessed  friendship  in  toleration, — but  sincerely 
believing  that  God  is  behind  all  our  varieties  of  relig- 
ious experience  for  the  divine  purpose  of  making  a 
glorious  church  without  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such 
thing.  You  and  I  must  be  in  that  society, — progress- 
ives and  conservatives,  those  who  emphasize  the 
emotional  and  devotional  side  of  religion,  those  who 
love  the  intellectual  problems  that  come  from  con- 
templation of  the  Absolute  Being,  those  who  give 
themselves  to  lowly,  loving  works,  those  who  delight 
in  the  priestly  side  with  ceremonies  and  rituals,  those 
who  draw  their  inspiration  from  the  free  voices  of  the 
prophets,  those  who  passionately  love  the  discoveries 
of  science,  the  secrets  of  the  Creator,  those  who  rule  in 
the  affairs  of  nations,  helping  on  the  brotherhood  of 
man — the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  God  will  welcome  all 
these." 

To  his  Japanese  brethren  he  conceded  the  same 
liberty  of  thought,  as  the  birthright  of  every  child  of 
God;  and  considering  the  difference  in  the  way  in 
which  the  truth  had  come  to  them,  and  that  in  which 
it  had  come  to  him  as  an  American  in  a  different  en- 
vironment, he  was  particularly  loath  to  condemn  their 
theological  attitudes,  even  when  contrary  to  the  ac- 
cepted creed  of  the  evangelical  church.  During  the 
anti-foreign  reaction,  there  was  on  the  part  of  some 
Kumiai  leaders  a  reaction  also  against  a  narrow  ortho- 
doxy,— a  reaction  that  seemed  to  some  missionaries  an 


236  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

alarming  defection  from  the  faith.  But  he  clung  to  a 
belief  in  their  spiritual  integrity  as  long  as  they  could 
bear  Christ's  own  test  of  followership,  "  By  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them."  He  wrote  to  the  Board  during 
that  period  as  follows : 

"Japanese  well  know  that  the  Christian  world  is 
reshaping  its  theology,  and  it  seems  childish  to  them 
for  us  to  make  it  a  condition  of  working  with  them, 
that  they  shape  their  faith  in  our  moulds  and  regard 
the  American  Board  as  summing  up  the  whole  of  Chris- 
tianity. Personally  I  cannot  help  but  believe,  in  spite 
of  their  semi-defiant  statements  of  faith  and  their  semi- 
insulting  addresses,  that  in  the  providence  of  God  these 
men  have  a  great  work  to  do  for  Christ  here;  and 
since  in  God's  providence  we  have,  lo,  these  eighteen 
years,  worked  together,  what  should  hinder  us  from 
looking  for  another  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  such  as 
will  bind  us  together  for  another  eighteen  years  ? 
There  is  occasion  for  anxiety,  for  we  and  you  are 
facing  new  problems  that  require  the  utmost  confidence 
in  both  parties  to  solve.  The  great  general  Hideyoshi 
was  once  cautioned  not  to  trust  a  certain  person  who 
was  suspected  of  being  his  enemy.  Hideyoshi  there- 
fore took  the  first  opportunity  of  handing  his  own 
sword  over  to  this  suspected  man  and  asking  him  to 
hold  it  for  a  little  while,  thus  putting  his  life  absolutely 
into  the  hands  of  the  suspected  man.  Hideyoshi  was  a 
brick ;  he  knew  men.  By  his  very  trusting  them,  he 
saved  them  to  truest  friendship.  .  .  .  Japanese, 
while  of  course  they  make  mistakes,  are  to  be  trusted 
as  friends  trust  friends.  ...  I  watch  carefully  the 
Christian  periodicals,  and  am  as  a  rule  wonderfully 
pleased  with  the  evangelical  spirit  of  the  articles  \p 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       237 

these  very  leaders,  as  well  as  by  others.  ...  I 
believe  these  men  are  loyal  to  Christ,  even  if  they 
absolutely  refuse  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ  as  we  have  shaped  it.  And  I  don't  want  our 
mission  even  to  seem  to  prefer  a  straight '  Lord,  Lord,' 
to  the  doing  of  His  will." 

A  few  years  later  he  wrote  of  a  sermon  he  had  heard 
by  one  of  these  same  leaders,  still  at  the  time  partially 
under  ban  from  the  strict  theologian  :  "  I  cannot  recall 
any  sermon  that  more  powerfully  impressed  me  in  all 
my  life.  Not  a  negative  word  in  it  from  beginning  to 
end,  but  a  most  magnificent  appeal  to  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  the  hearers  on  the  subject,  '  My  God.'  " 

How  he  came  to  his  attitude  towards  the  religions  of 
Japan,  he  thus  told  an  American  audience : 

"  As  I  look  back  over  the  first  half  of  my  career,  I 
confess  I  was  not  able  to  meet  in  a  fair  and  courteous 
spirit  the  fierce  attacks  on  Christianity  by  able  men. 
What  did  I  know  about  Buddhism  and  the  life  of  its 
great  founder  ? — or  Confucianism  and  the  mighty  moral 
work  it  had  wrought  through  long  millenniums  in  the 
most  populous  empire  on  earth  ?  Therefore  I  had  to 
study,  and  learn  with  open  mind  all  the  good  I  could 
discover  in  those1  systems ;  and  this  is  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  my  life  in  the  East  has  brought  me. 
I  had  to  see  what  my  own  Bible  has  always  taught,  but 
what  I  had  failed  to  discover — the  universality  of  the 
light  that  lighteth  every  man  coming  into  the  world, 
east  or  west,  and  the  universality  of  the  Fatherhood  of 
God.  Just  in  proportion  as  I  saw  those  greatest  of 
blessed  doctrines,  I  rejoiced  to  find  lofty  moral  and 
spiritual  truths  in  their  religions ;  for  then  I  began  to 
know  that  God  had  always  been  there,  loving  them  as 


238  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

He  does  us,  but  giving  them  a  different  moral  and 
religious  education  in  order  that,  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
He  might  use  us  who  have  learned  His  name  of  Father 
to  carry  the  glad  news  to  His  children  of  the  East,  and 
thus  make  us  co-labourers  with  Him  in  binding  into  one 
blessed  brotherhood  the  great  East  and  the  great  West." 

To  recognize  the  good  in  Buddhism  and  Confucianism 
as  he  did  would  perhaps  seem  to  some  to  "  cut  the 
nerve  of  missions."  Not  so  with  him.  For  now  God's 
voice  seemed  to  say, — not  as  before,  "  Go  and  prepare 
men's  hearts  to  receive  Me," — but,  "  Go  and  bring  the 
knowledge  of  Me  to  those  whom  I  have  long  been  pre- 
paring for  your  message."  So  strong  was  his  sense  of 
this  divine  preparation  that  when  he  delivered  a  series 
of  ten  lectures  on  missions  in  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary  in  1908,  he  entitled  the  course,  "  The  Vast 
Environment  God  has  Prepared  in  the  East,  into  which 
He  Calls  Us  to  Come  and  Work  With  Him."  Of  one 
example  of  this  preparation  he  wrote  thus : 

"  There  is  no  one  man  who  has  given  to  the  Tokugawa 
period  such  a  line  of  moral  prophets  and  so  much  of 
spiritual  power  as  has  Nakae  Toju,  the  beloved  and 
honoured  '  Sage  of  Omi.'  There  is  no  other  of  Japan's 
moral  teachers  whose  words  seem  so  close  to  the  ex- 
alting words  of  John,  '  There  was  the  true  light  which 
lighteth  every  man  coming  into  the  world,'  as  Nakae's 
inspired  statement  on  man's  conscience :  '  Man's  con- 
science is  Heaven  ;  it  is  the  Divine  Life ;  it  is  the  Su- 
preme Being  above.'  It  is  thus  infinitely  more  easy  to 
preach  Christ,  the  Light  of  the  world,  to  people  who 
have  had  it  deeply  impressed  on  them  that  a  spark  of 
divine  life  is  given  every  man  as  his  most  precious 
treasure." 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       239 

"With  this  joyful  vision  of  God's  preparatory  work, 
he  refused  to  call  the  native  religions  "  false," — imper- 
fect they  were,  but  not  devoid  of  divine  truth.  He 
refused,  too,  for  the  sake  of  "  courteous  Christianity," 
to  call  the  Japanese  "  heathen,"— that  word  so  offensive 
to  the  Japanese  for  its  often  implied  contempt.  "  The 
Book  that  has  no  '  heathen '  in  it,"  he  wrote  on  the 
fly-leaf  of  a  New  Testament  in  the  Revised  Version, 
which  he  presented  to  an  American  friend  after  a  talk 
upon  this  point.  Once  at  Northheld,  Mass.,  he  was 
"  moved  after  a  remark  of  Mr.  Moody,  *  Don't  let's  call 
them  heathen,'  to  rise  and  ask  that  a  resolution  be  passed 
discouraging  the  use  of  the  word.  To  which  Mr.  Moody 
replied,  '  Oh,  no,  don't  let's  have  any  resolution :  let's 
act  it.' " 

Once  on  furlough  he  was  in  conversation  with  a  leader 
of  Christian  thought  whom  he  supposed  to  be  familiar 
with,  and  friendly  to,  the  view-point  that  recognizes 
God's  hand  in  the  early  religious  history  of  every 
nation.  Speaking  naturally  and  non-polemically  along 
this  line,  he  referred  to  Shaka  and  Confucius  as 
"the  moral  prophets  to  fit  the  East  for  Christ,"  and 
was  surprised  to  have  his  new  acquaintance  say,  "  *  All 
who  came  before  Me  were  thieves  and  robbers.'" 
"  Yes,"  replied  my  father,  "  Moses,  Isaiah,  and  all  the 
rest ! " 

This  faith  in  the  good  in  their  history  helped  open 
the  door  for  him  to  the  hearts  of  the  Japanese.  Said  a 
Japanese  editor  in  an  address  at  a  memorial  meeting 
held  in  Sendai  on  the  second  anniversary  of  his  death, 
"  It  is  not  so  much  because  he  worked  so  devotedly  for 
Japan  that  we  are  grateful  to  him  ;  but  chiefly  because 
he  saw  the  nobility  in  our  people,  and  recognized  that 


240  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

we  are  a  nation  loving  justice  and  righteousness  and 
having  ideals." 

In  1903  he  wrote,  and  in  1908  revised,  "  Sunrise  in 
the  Sunrise  Kingdom,"  the  text-book  on  Japan  in  the 
mission  study  series  prepared  for  the  Young  People's 
Missionary  Movement.  The  main  outline  of  the  book 
was  made  out  by  a  member  of  the  promoting  commit- 
tee, Prof.  Amos  E.  Wells,  who  also  supplied  its  happy 
title.  The  book  had  an  extensive  circulation,  having 
been  used  by  more  than  forty  mission  boards  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada  in  their  young  people's  work. 
Dr.  W.  E.  Griffis  wrote  in  the  Independent,  "  It  is  full 
of  grit,  grace,  tact,  and  power."  This  is  in  part  due  to 
the  abounding  optimism  of  its  writer.  The  joy  of  the 
assured  coming  of  the  Kingdom  rings  through  it.  It 
is  also  due  in  part  to  the  thoughtful  care  taken  to  write 
in  such  a  way  that  the  book  could  be  read  by  Japanese 
without  its  giving  offense  ;  in  fact,  one  Japanese  editor 
even  recommended  it  to  his  readers  as  a  suitable  Christ- 
mas or  JSTew  Year's  gift  to  students.  One  particular  in 
which  it  endeavours  to  be  just  is  in  its  recognition  of 
the  good  as  well  as  the  evil  of  the  old  religions  of 
Japan.  Especially  interesting  is  the  testimony  it  quotes 
of  a  Japanese  who  found  himself  prepared  for  Chris- 
tianity by  the  training  he  had  previously  received  in 
three  fundamental  principles  foreshadowed  in  the  ear- 
lier religions :  universal  brotherhood  in  Confucianism, 
the  future  life  in  Buddhism,  and  loyalty  in  Shintoism.1 

The  introduction  to  the  book  was  written  by  Dr. 

Charles  Cuthbert  Hall  of  Union  Theological  Seminary, 

with  whom  the  author  had  formed  a  close  spiritual 

sympathy.     Dr.  Hall  wrote,  among  other  remarks,  "  It 

1  Revised  edition,  p.  171. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       241 

is  strange  that  Christians  ever  should  begrudge  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  good  in  non-Christian  faiths,  when 
the  presence  of  that  good  attests  the  universal  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit."  The  manuscript  of  the  book  and  its 
introduction  fell  for  censorship  into  the  hand  of  one 
who  adhered  strictly  to  former  theological  conceptions 
of  the  state  of  the  non-Christian  world.  He  attempted 
to  cut  out  heretical  phrases  or  sentences,  but  before  he 
had  proceeded  far  he  found  the  heresy  so  deeply  woven 
into  the  texture  of  the  work  as  to  be  ineradicable  ;  and 
for  conscience'  sake  he  gave  up  the  task,  relinquishing 
it  to  one  of  different  view-point  who  permitted  the 
manuscript  to  go  to  print  substantially  as  submitted. 
And  well  it  was :  for  this  very  recognition  of  God's 
Spirit  working  in  all  lands  and  all  ages  was  an  essential 
part  of  the  message  that  my  father  felt  impelled  to 
utter  in  his  little  book.  To  his  faith  it  was  a  necessary 
and  vital  part  of  God's  revelation  in  His  Word,  and  of 
consequent  importance  to  all  Christians  at  work  in 
spreading  the  Gospel,  whether  at  home  or  abroad. 

How  this  faith  affected  his  work  as  a  missionary  he 
stated  most  fully  in  an  address  given  in  1909  to  the 
missionary  conference  in  Kuling,  the  summer  gathering- 
place  for  Europeans  in  the  Yangtse  valley  and  Central 
China.  Eev.  F.  B.  Meyer  of  London  was  the  chief 
speaker  at  the  conference,  conducting  each  day's  devo- 
tional sessions  and  Bible  study.  In  addition,  there 
were  lectures  by  summer  residents  on  subjects  of  general 
interest  to  missionaries.  My  father,  who  was  spending 
the  summer  there  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Pet- 
tus,  was  asked  to  speak  on  "  The  Bearing  of  Biblical 
Criticism  on  Missions."  He  accepted  the  invitation  as 
a  call  of  God  to  witness  to  the  larger  light  he  himself 


242  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

had  received.  A  few  paragraphs  from  his  address  will 
best  summarize  the  influence  of  the  new  view-point  on 
his  own  missionary  evolution  : 

"  We  missionaries  can  put  ourselves  in  deeper  sym- 
pathy with  these  peoples  of  the  East  by  noting  how 
easily  and  naturally  the  Old  Testament  absorbed  many 
religious  elements  that  belonged  to  other  religions  and 
to  the  surrounding  nations.  God  not  only  permits,  He 
inspires  Israel  to  gather  up  from  the  folk-lore  of  the 
older  nations  around  them  such  legends  as  can  be  put 
to  use  in  the  first  monotheistic  literature  of  the  world. 
He  gives  His  guiding  inspiration  so  that  the  best  part 
of  that  very  high  moral  code  of  Hammurabi  is  saved 
to  the  world  in  the  name  of  Israel's  God.  And  as  men 
must  have  a  name  for  their  God,  He  inspired  Moses  to 
take  the  sacred  name  '  I  AM '  from  Egypt,  and  fill  it 
with  personality  and  holy  authority. 

"  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  one  of  God's  methods  of 
working  manifested  also  in  our  Christian  history,  which 
has  manifold  traces  of  what  it  has  gathered  from  our 
early  European  ancestors,  as  we  see  in  festivals,  in  cus- 
toms, in  the  names  of  our  days  and  months,  in  those  of 
our  near  planets  and  the  distant  stars,  and  very  mark- 
edly in  our  religious  philosophy  and  our  ideas  of  com- 
mon law.  And  are  we  not  all  the  richer  for  being 
providentially  and  religiously  bound  to  the  past  by 
these  fragments  of  faith  that  were  so  precious  to  our 
distant  ancestors,  and  for  having  made  them  tributary 
to  our  larger  faith  in  the  one  great  Father  of  them  and 
of  us? 

"Is  not  this  suggestive  of  how  the  missionary  of 
God,  bearing  the  accumulated  message  of  the  ages, 
may  meet  these  great  historic  nations  of  the  East? 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       243 

God  has  been  in  their  legends  and  folk-lore ;  in  their 
moral  systems  that  have  stood  for  ages ;  and  in  that 
name  of  profound  meaning,  '  Heaven,'  by  which  they 
at  times  seem  almost  to  touch  the  personality  of  the 
one  living  God  ;  then  is  it  not  ours  sympathetically  to 
purify  their  cosmogony  and  vitalize  their  strong  moral 
codes,  and  enlarge  their  various  names  for  the  Supreme 
One,  by  showing  them  fithat  the  one  Creator  of  all 
things  and  the  Father  of  all  men  was  in  them  all,  edu- 
cating the  people  and  preparing  them  for  His  divinest 
revelation  through  Christ  ? — So  that  our  message,  in- 
stead of  being  foreign  and  extraterritorial,  shall  be  na- 
tive to  God's  great  preparatory  work  here  and  capable 
of  such  rapid  naturalization  that  it  shall  give  a  Chris- 
tian atmosphere  to  the  East,  as  it  is  doing  in  the  West. 

" .  .  .  Do  not  we  missionaries,  the  vanguard  of 
Christ's  Church,  need  this  knowledge  if  it  really  helps 
us  to  understand  better  God's  ways  of  educating  the 
race,  including  these  nations  of  the  East  ?  I  could  not 
think  as  I  now  love  to  think  of  God  in  this  populous 
eastern  hemisphere  ;  I  could  not  meet  my  thoughtful 
audiences  in  Japan  with  the  essential  message  of  our 
religion ;  I  could  not  face  with  sympathy  the  honest 
doubts  of  students  and  teachers ;  and  I  may  add,  I 
could  not  meet  the  anxious  questions  that  an  increasing 
number  of  young  missionaries  bring  to  me  in  this  very 
different  atmosphere  of  the  East,  unless  I  had  been  led 
(and  it  seems  to  me  providential  leading  for  which  I 
often  thank  God)  to  study  Biblical  criticism  and  related 
questions  enough  to  feel  at  home  in  talking  with  others 
about  the  personal  adjustment  each  one  has  to  make  in 
the  light  of  newly  discovered  facts. 

" .     .     .     To  sum  up  in  a  paragraph  the  value  to  me 


244  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

of  Biblical  criticism,  I  do  not  know  of  any  better  way 
of  putting  it  than  to  say  it  helps  to  make  the  Gospel 
truly  great.  The  Gospel  is  the  greatest  thing  under 
the  skies,  and  all  the  knowledge  of  all  the  ages,  and  all 
the  sacrifices  of  loving  hearts,  must  be  made  tributary 
in  giving  this  Gospel  its  supreme  place  among  the 
peoples  of  this  hemisphere  also.  .  .  .  It  is  because, 
in  my  study  of  how  to  deliver  to  thoughtful  Japanese 
the  two  great  messages  of  Christ — the  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth — I  find  the 
principles  of  Biblical  criticism  help  me  to  separate  the 
essential  from  the  non-essential,  the  local  and  temporary 
from  the  universal  and  eternal,  that  I  prize  the  new 
methods  of  Biblical  research  and  gladly  commend 
them  to  all.  It  is  because  they  give  me  a  larger 
Gospel." 

It  was  an  ever-enlarging  Gospel  that  he  preached  up 
to  the  end.  Late  in  life  he  wrote  :  "  I  am  doing  the 
best  preaching  I  know  how,  of  the  great  Gospel — the 
trouble  is,  it  is  so  great  that  it  is  hard  to  handle  it." 
How  he  handled  it,  a  few  extracts  from  letters  and 
other  writings  will  show  in  part. 

A  Sunday  in  Tokyo. 
"Mrs.  DeForest  and  I  went  to  hear  Mr.  Ebina. 
What  a  fine  audience  of  six  hundred,  mainly  university 
professors  and  students !  And  what  a  splendid  un- 
folding of  the  text '  I  Am,'  making  the  deepest  Bud- 
dhist truth  of  the  Great  Self  {Taiga)  and  the  Minor 
Self  (Shoga)  fairly  shine  with  the  Christian  light  of  per- 
sonality in  God,  the  God  of  Love  !  Oh,  if  we  mission- 
aries only  knew  this  royal  road  of  fulfilling  rather  than 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       245 

destroying,  we  should  have  ten  times  the  power  we 
now  have.  It  makes  me  feel  how  small  I  was  twenty- 
five  years  ago  when  I  wrote  that  tract,  '  The  Evils  of 
Worshiping  Dried  Wood.'  " 

October,  1896. 
"  The  recent  little  Parliament  of  Religions  (gotten 
up  by  a  Christian,  Togawa,  with  whom  I  used  to  work 
in  Osaka),  held  in  Tokyo  with  Buddhists,  Shintoists, 
Confucianists,  and  Christians,  is  laughed  at  by  some, 
but  I  rejoice  in  all  such  movements.  It  shows,  as  the 
Christian  says,  that  Christianity  has  already  won  a 
commanding  place  in  Japanese  thought,  when  high 
representatives  of  the  old  religions  consent  to  meet 
Christian  leaders  as  their  peers.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  five  or  ten  years  ago,  when  Buddhist  orators 
were  holding  public  meetings  and  shouting  themselves 
hoarse  over  '  Drive  out  Christianity  from  Japan ! ' " 

Sendaij  January,  1903. 

"  There  is  a  growing  friendliness  between  Buddhists 
and  Christians  that  I  think  will  do  much  good.  Some 
Christian  leaders  have  recently  been  invited  to  speak 
before  a  Tokyo  Buddhist  school,  and  the  lectures  have 
been  published.  One  has  to  be  careful  to  be  thought- 
ful, sympathetic,  and  much  in  earnest,  when  invited  to 
such  a  place. 

"  A  student — very  bright — came  to  tell  me  his  faith 
the  other  day,  and  said  he  liked  Christianity,  but  it 
was  only  a  step  towards  the  deeper  Buddhist  faith. 
He  said  among  other  things  that  '  all  the  paths  of  a 
mountain  lead  to  the  same  top,'  which  is  a  pet  way  out 
here  of  saying  that  all  religions  lead  to  salvation  and 
peace.     I  took  him  up  on  that  illustration  by  saying  it 


246  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

didn't  correspond  to  the  facts.  The  facts  are  that 
there  are  two  paths  that  lead  in  quite  different  direc- 
tions— one  towards  hope  and  eternal  life,  the  other  con- 
fessedly tending  to  pessimism.  Men  may  indeed  get  a 
certain  grade  of  comfort  and  peace  out  of  ethical 
pessimism ;  but  the  path  that  leads  to  joy  and  peace 
and  life,  with  its  optimism,  its  trust  in  the  infinite 
Father,  is  a  very  different  path.  I  mean  to  use  this 
illustration  hereafter,  as  it  is  quite  common  to  hear 
that  *  all  religions  are  good  if  you  really  believe 
them.' " 

Sendaiy  1903. 

"  Calls  for  addresses  every  day  this  week  but  one. 
The  unique  one  was  from  a  bright  Buddhist  priest, 
asking  me  to  speak  with  him  in  his  own  temple  with  a 
select  audience  of  twenty  or  thirty  officials,  scholars, 
military  men,  and  students.  It  was  a  delicate  place  to 
be  put  into  but  I  felt  I  had  the  message  needed.  So 
after  two  Buddhist  speeches,  I  spoke  on  the  two  great 
religious  thoughts  that  control  the  world  of  to-day, 
pantheism  and  theism.  One  could  have  no  better 
attention.  One  day  a  college  student  called  to  say  he 
happened  to  be  present  and  was  surprised  to  hear  that 
talk.  He  spent  two  hours  of  earnest  questioning  such 
as  only  a  bright  Easterner  can  do.  The  next  day  came 
four  teachers,  one  of  whom  had  been  present,  and  I 
had  another  good  time  under  fire — not  under  opposition, 
but  under  religious  warmth.  .  .  .  One  of  the  daily 
papers  gave  a  report  of  this  meeting  in  both  Japanese 
and  English.     I  fancy  it  was  by  the  priest." 

"  I  preached  on  '  The  Blood  of  Christ '  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life ;  and  as  the  line  of  thought  was  novel 
to  me,  and  worked  out  for  Buddhistic  people,  I  put 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       247 

much  interest  in  it.  The  East  seems  shocked  that  we 
teach  the  blood  of  Christ  as  a  valuable  moral  renovator 
of  man.  So  I  went  into  the  cause  of  the  shock,  the 
unreasonableness  of  it,  and  the  real  blessings  that  come 
from  such  a  sacrifice.  .  .  .  Some  Buddhist  priests 
were  present ;  and  as  I  quoted  from  a  letter  received 
from  a  Buddhist  priest  sharply  criticizing  '  salvation  by 
blood,'  it  must  have  left  its  mark  on  my  Buddhist 
hearers.  Then  with  no  time  to  rest,  I  had  to  address 
some  thirty  post-office  officials  and  Middle  School 
students.  .  .  .  Then  I  went  to  preach  in  English 
before  the  missionaries,  and  as  I'd  had  no  time  to 
write  a  sermon,  I  gave  my  morning  sermon  in  Eng- 
lish. .  .  .  H.  said  it  made  him  feel  that  much  of 
his  preaching  had  been  of  no  use  at  all,  and  he  wondered 
how  I  got  hold  of  Japanese  thought  so." 

Northampton,  Mass.,  October,  1903. 
"  Speaking  at  Smith  College  vespers,  I  took  '  The 
Old  Religions  as  Schoolmasters  to  Lead  to  Christ,' 
stating  that  men  first  worshipped  visible  objects,  with 
open  eyes,  like  the  sun,  moon,  etc.,  and  then  spiritual 
objects  like  dead  ancestors  ;  and  stated  that  there  never 
would  have  been  a  family  on  earth  but  for  ancestor 
worship,  with  which  family  life  began,  etc.  .  .  . 
Professor  Wood  said  he  was  pleased  to  have  the  girls 
hear  that  from  a  missionary." 

From  a  Furlough  Sermon,  1908 : 

"  Do  not  fall  into  the  old  error  of  thinking  that  the 

Eastern  family  is  immoral,  impure,  degraded,  and  about 

so  bad  as  can  be.    There  are  some  such  families  out  there, 

and  also,  sad  to  say,  here  in  our  own  Christian  "West. 


248  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

We  all  know  that  lust  and  licentiousness,  if  persisted 
in,  will  wreck  any  family  line,  making  criminals  out  of 
some  members,  sending  diseases  through  others,  and 
weakening  the  line  until  it  disappears.  We  also  know 
that  if  a  family  exists  through  generations  and  cen- 
turies, it  is  because  of  the  moral  life  that  bears  it  on. 
If,  then,  we  find  all  through  the  East  family  lines  that 
have  a  history  of  hundreds,  and  even  thousands,  of  years 
of  duration,  the  only  open-minded  conclusion  you  and  I 
can  arrive  at  is  that  they  are  on  the  whole  moral  lines. 

"  Now  God  is  in  those  long-lived  Eastern  families, 
conserving  them  by  His  divine  virtues  of  filial  piety, 
ancestral  worship,  patience,  thrift,  temperance,  and 
their  wide  spirit  of  mutual  sacrifice.  While  their  women 
and  children  have  no  such  high  place  as  the  blessed 
teachings  of  Christ  give,  we  must  never  forget  that 
there  are  often  splendid  women  in  those  homes,  and  a 
parental  love  over  the  children  that  deepens  and  en- 
riches the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  the  family  and  the 
community.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  these  families, 
over  which  God  has  watched  with  infinite  love,  have 
been  richly  educated  and  prepared  by  ages  of  training, 
for  the  final  message  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  which 
women  and  children  are,  equally  with  men,  children  of 
God. 

"  Just  here  I  should  like  to  impress  upon  your  minds 
that  so-called  ancestor  worship  is  one  of  the  moral 
forces  that  has  built  up  these  strong  family  lines. 
Missionaries  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  a  rule,  were 
thoroughly  opposed  to  ancestor  worship  as  a  violation 
of  God's  commands,  and  as  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the 
acceptance  of  Christianity.  But  a  great  change  is 
taking  place  in  our  thoughts  about  it.     We  see  that 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       249 

worship  does  not  always  have  the  high  meaning  we 
give  it  in  the  Christian  religion.  We  have  hero 
worship,  and  it  is  one  of  the  best  forces  that  build  up 
character  and  patriotism.  Moreover,  we  tend  to  a  kind 
of  worship  of  all  whom  we  love.  For  myself,  I  have 
long  believed  ancestor  worship  is  one  of  the  best  of 
preparations  for  the  worship  of  the  one  great  Ancestor 
of  all  men,  and  one  of  the  strongest  of  moral  bonds  in 
the  life  and  the  progress  of  non-Christian  peoples. 

"  Now  when  such  families  come  in  contact  with  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  and  learn  what  Christ  can  do, 
far  beyond  what  Confucius  has  done,  they  open  their 
homes  to  all  that  Christ  can  bless  them  with.  Here  is 
one  illustration : 

"  A  young  physician  married  into  a  family  where  the 
members  had  all  become  Christian.  He  therefore 
became  a  Christian,  and  made  his  house  a  preaching- 
place.  Shortly  after  the  marriage,  to  the  grief  and 
horror  of  the  bride,  it  appeared  that  her  husband  had 
the  dreaded  disease  of  leprosy.  She  fled  back  to  her 
own  home,  saying  she  could  never  live  as  the  wife  of  a 
leper.  But  her  elder  brother  said  to  her,  '  You  are  now 
a  Christian.  He  is  a  Christian.  It  is  hard,  but  if 
Christ  has  laid  this  burden  on  you,  is  it  right  to  run 
away  from  it  ? ' 

"  That  brought  out  her  splendid  spirit  of  sacrifice, 
and  she  and  Christ  went  back  to  her  stricken  husband. 
And  for  fifteen  years,  while  I  never  saw  so  repulsive 
and  terrible  a  case  of  leprosy,  that  devoted  wife,  ever 
smiling  and  joyous,  stayed  by  her  husband's  side,  his 
blessed  comfort  until  the  day  of  his  release.  She  made, 
in  spite  of  shocking  conditions,  a  real  little  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  in  her  home." 


250  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

From  an  Address  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
American  Board  at  Manchester,  i\T.  H.,  1903. 

"  The  Religious  Situation  in  Japan. — Within  one 
generation  the  traditional  religions  have  been  wonder- 
fully modified  by  contact  with  the  West.  The  grosser 
forms  of  idolatry  and  superstition  that  were  visible  on 
every  hand  thirty  years  ago  have  largely  disappeared 
from  sight.  One  of  the  significant  movements  of  the 
times  is  the  recent  action  of  the  central  shrine  of 
Shintoism  at  Ise, — the  sacred  seat  of  the  worship  of  the 
divine  founders  of  the  empire, — where  those  in  authority 
have  announced  that  their  organization  no  longer  claims 
to  be  a  religious  body,  but  is  an  association  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  national  traditions.  Other  Shinto  sects  are 
bitter  against  this  action ;  but  it  seems  to  say  that  as 
Shintoism  never  can  become  a  universal  religion,  it  is 
better  to  drop  any  claim  to  rank  as  such,  and  become 
simply  a  cult  limited  to  the  nation. 

"  Buddhism  has  undergone  marked  changes  for  the 
better.  .  .  .  '  Christianity  has  been  an  immense 
blessing  to  us,'  said  an  earnest  Buddhist  priest  to  me 
not  long  ago.  History  shows  that  men  everywhere 
give  up  their  inherited  religious  traditions  with  great 
difficulty.  It  is  the  glory  of  Japan  that  though  at  first 
Buddhist  priests  were  bitter  against  Christianity,  they 
now  freely  recognize  that  they  themselves  were  intru. 
ders  a  thousand  years  ago,  and  that  they  gained  their 
place  of  influence  simply  because  they  supplied  a  relig- 
ious want  that  Shintoism  could  not  satisfy.  They  are 
seeing  with  open  eyes  that  Christianity  has  elements  of 
truth  that  Buddhism  never  had,  and  that  the  only  fair 
way  is  to  embody  these  in  their  own  great  religion. 
Buddhist  priests  are  among  the  best  purchasers  of  Bibles 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       251 

and  Christian  literature.  Buddhist  schools  of  learning 
have  in  many  cases  courses  of  lectures  on  Christianity,  and 
even  regular  study  of  the  New  Testament.  You  rejoice 
over  one  Buddhist  priest  that  becomes  a  Christian ;  but 
this  wide  transformation  of  Buddhism  is  of  far  greater 
significance." 

From  a  furlough  sermon,  1908 :  "  The  Coming  King- 
dom in  the  East." 

(The  Story  of  Ilomma  Shumjpei) 

"  If  God  has  always  been  in  the  East,  establishing  the 
beginnings  of  His  Kingdom  in  the  hearts  and  homes 
and  national  life  of  those  peoples,  we  shall  expect 
wonderful  transformation  of  character  and  wide  and 
most  hopeful  results  whenever  the  Gospel  of  His  King- 
dom is  presented  to  them  in  all  its  greatness  and  sim- 
plicity, not  hampered  by  the  addition  of  our  Western 
creeds,  theologies,  and  denominational  forms.  Let  me 
tell  what  I  have  seen  of  the  splendid  power  of  the  King- 
dom when  it  takes  full  possession  of  a  single  individual. 

"  Twenty  years  ago  there  was  a  young  carpenter  in 
Sendai,  with  no  special  education,  of  a  deeply  religious 
nature,  but  hating  Christianity  as  an  enemy  of  his 
country.  One  of  my  tracts  on  '  How  to  Choose  a  Life- 
work  '  fell  into  his  hands  ;  after  reading  it,  he  burned 
it  in  anger,  very  likely  with  the  wish  that  its  author 
might  be  burned  too.  Something,  however,  must  have 
gripped  his  mind,  for  later  on  in  Tokyo,  as  he  was 
accidentally  passing  a  Christian  chapel,  he  stepped  in 
and  heard  a  message  from  a  Japanese  preacher  that  his 
sincere  soul  could  not  hate.  It  aroused  a  desire  to  read 
again  the  tract  that  he  had  burnt,  and  he  searched  the 
bookstores  of  Tokyo  until  he  found  a  copy.  He  began 
to  see  that  the  religion  he  had  so  bitterly  hated  might 


252  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

be  just  the  thing  that  would  satisfy  the  deepest  longings 
of  his  soul.  In  short,  Christ  captured  him,  body  and 
soul.  His  mind,  hitherto  cramped  with  prejudice  and 
ignorance,  opened  in  every  direction  with  visions  of 
what  he  could  do  for  Christ  and  His  Kingdom.  He 
was  engaged  as  a  workman  on  the  new  palace  of  the 
Crown  Prince ;  yet  that  delightful  work  did  not  pre- 
vent him  from  giving  his  best  thought  and  prayers  to 
the  saving  of  one  of  the  independent  churches  of  the 
capital  that  almost  tumbled  over  in  the  reaction  of  fifteen 
years  ago.  He  saved  it ;  and  it  is  now  a  church  not 
merely  of  national  power,  but  of  international  influence. 

"  He  was  sent  south  to  examine  marble  quarries  and 
to  search  for  some  fine  qualities  of  marble  for  the  new 
palace.  He  went  over  the  hills  and  searched  in  vain  : 
nothing  but  poor  stuff  could  be  found.  Then,  since  his 
heart  was  always  filled  with  God,  he  very  naturally 
kneeled  down  on  one  of  the  hills  to  ask  his  Father  why 
He  had  sent  him  there  and  what  He  would  have  him 
do  in  that  place.  And  suddenly — I  hardly  venture  to 
tell  it,  lest  you  disbelieve  this  marvellous  story — an 
earthquake  violently  shook  the  hill  and  split  it  close  by 
him.  Now  in  Japan  when  an  earthquake  comes  along, 
no  matter  whether  a  man  be  eating,  sleeping,  or  praying, 
he  gets  up  with  a  start ;  by  that  time,  generally,  the 
earthquake  is  over.  My  friend  jumped  to  his  feet,  took 
one  look  into  the  narrow  chasm,  and  with  joy  again  fell 
on  his  knees  and  thanked  God  for  the  marble  veins 
revealed  in  the  depths  below — the  good  marble, 
worthy  of  a  place  in  the  palace  of  the  Crown  Prince. 

"  If  that  be  a  miracle,  then  we  must  confess  that 
greater  miracles  followed  the  life  of  this  Christ-filled 
man.     For  he  bought  the  quarry  and  built  his  work- 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       253 

shed  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  on  the  side  of  his  work- 
shop a  rough  chapel,  where  every  morning  he  prayed 
with  his  workmen,  and  every  Sunday  preached  to  all 
whom  he  could  gather.  It  was  not  long  before  he 
wrote  me  to  come  and  baptize  a  dozen  of  his  labourers, 
— who,  by  the  way,  were  men  of  low  class  and  ex-con- 
victs, people  with  whom  ordinary  employers  would 
have  little  or  nothing  to  do ;  but  Homma,  with  his 
great  heart,  took  these  undesirable  people  right  into 
his  own  home,  ate  with  them,  perpetually  talked  with 
them  and  the  neighbours,  in  his  earnest  and  winning 
way,  about  Christ  and  His  Kingdom,  and  slept  with 
them  as  members  of  his  own  family.  Every  one  he 
met  was  impressed  with  this  unique  personality. 
People  began  to  come  nights  to  talk  with  him, — work- 
men, school-teachers,  local  officials,  policemen ;  and 
night  after  night  these  people  would  be  held  until  the 
dawn  of  the  day,  charmed  by  the  cordiality  and  sincerity 
of  this  young  man,  whose  great  eyes  looked  so  lovingly 
into  their  faces  and  even  into  their  hearts.  Twelve 
miles  away  was  Yamaguchi,  a  city  in  which  were 
missionaries  and  churches  doing  a  good  work ;  yet 
every  Saturday  night  a  number  of  students  from  that 
city  would  cross  the  mountain  range  on  foot  and  spend 
Sunday  in  Homma's  home,  where  they  heard  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  as  no  missionary  nor  pastor  in  that  large  city 
could  tell  it.  * 

"  Now  here  is  a  question  I  wish  to  put  to  you, — 
Homma's  answer  to  it  is  surely  a  larger  miracle  than 
the  earthquake's  work  in  revealing  the  good  marble. 
If  a  desperate  man  should  seize  a  knife,  and  with  swift 
stroke  stab  your  wife  right  before  your  face,  what 
would  you  do  ?    We  of  Anglo-Saxon  lineage,  educated 


254  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

into  our  rights,  especially  the  right  of  self-defense, 
would  have  seized  the  first  thing  at  hand  and  dashed 
his  brains  out — so  little  of  the  real  Christ-heart  have 
we.  But  Homma,  catching  his  bleeding  wife  in  his 
arms,  instantly  and  naturally  forgave  the  would-be 
murderer.  '  Brother,  Christ  would  not  have  done  so  : ' 
— this  was  the  strongest  rebuke  that  came  from  this 
great-hearted,  this  Christ-hearted  man.  Before  the  ex- 
convict  could  beg  forgiveness,  both  husband  and  wife — 
she  with  a  three-inch  gash  that  had  almost  been  fatal — 
spoke  such  a  winning  pardon  that  the  knife  fell  from 
the  convict's  hand,  and  he  fell  on  his  face  in  an  agony 
of  remorse,  bewailing  his  wretched  moral  collapse. 

"  Only  two  days  after  this,  when  I  ate  and  slept  with 
those  people  and  on  the  following  morning  was  privi- 
leged to  baptize  a  band  of  seventeen,  composed  of  stu- 
dents, ex-convicts,  and  low-class  workmen,  this  man, 
who  had  attempted  the  life  of  his  benefactress,  read  the 
Scriptures  and  offered  the  opening  prayer  of  the  service. 
Talk  about  miracles !  That  husband  and  wife,  who  had 
learned  so  much  of  Christ  that  it  was  natural  to  for- 
give a  horrible  crime  before  they  were  asked,  saved 
that  offending  brother.  The  police  quickly  heard  of 
the  murderous  act,  and  hurried  to  arrest  again  the  man 
who  had  served  out  one  long  term  in  prison  and  whose 
new  crime  showed  him  to  be  unfit  for  freedom  in  so- 
ciety. Homma  said  to  the  police :  '  If  you  arrest  this 
man,  he  will  surely  go  to  irrevocable  ruin.  Leave  him 
with  me,  and  I  will  save  him.' 

"  In  short,  here  is  a  young  man  so  well  prepared  by 
the  religions  of  his  ancestors — and  we  must  not  over- 
look this  providential  preparation — that  when  the  Gos- 
pel of  the  Kingdom  of  God  took  possession  of  him, 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  MESSAGE       255 

when  Christ  became  his  real  life  and  passion,  he  could 
do  those  '  greater  things  '  that  Christ  foretold  would  be 
done.  .  .  .  Homma's  pardon  brought  his  enemy  to 
instant  and  absolute  repentance,  and  not  only  saved 
him,  but  made  him  a  little  saviour  of  others,  as  this 
quotation  from  Homma's  loving  letter  shows :  '  The 
dear  boy  who  wounded  my  wife  repented  of  his  con- 
duct. He  has  organized  an  association  for  protecting 
ex-convicts  in  Osaka  and  is  working  very  bravely  and 
gloriously.  I  am  very  thankful  that  all  works  done  in 
accordance  with  the  command  of  the  Lord  prove  excel- 
lent materials  for  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom.' 

"  Do  you  see  ? — this  is  the  grand  purpose  of  this 
Japanese  friend  of  mine  :  To  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Here  is  one  individual  whom  Christ  has  found 
and  filled  with  Himself.  What  he  wants  with  all  his 
heart  is  to  Christianize  his  marble-works  and  make 
them  a  part  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  ;  then  to  Christian- 
ize his  whole  neighbourhood.  Said  he  with  a  sigh, 
'  I've  been  here  three  years — as  long  as  Christ  preached 
on  earth — and  I've  done  almost  nothing.  But  with 
God's  help  in  the  next  three  years  I'll  see  this  whole 
village  brought  to  Christ.'     .     .     . 

"  I  take  so  much  time  in  telling  this  story,  to  show 
what  the  relation  of  one  God-filled  man  is  to  the  com- 
ing Kingdom  in  the  East.  .  .  .  And  there  are 
scores  of  such  men  and  women  there,  individuals  whose 
power  for  Christ  is  manifested  in  all  varieties  of  ways, 
unlimited  by  any  church  and  unfettered  by  any  creed, 
who  are  making  the  Kingdom  of  God  come  so  that 
Christian  standards  are  recognized  far  outside  of 
churches,  so  that  a  Christian  atmosphere  is  being  created 
for  an  empire  of  fifty  millions." 


VIII 

From  the  National  to  the 
International 


"  For  mankind  are  one  in  spirit, 

And  an  instinct  bears  along, 
Round  the  earth's  electric  circle, 

The  swift  flash  of  right  and  wrong  ; 
Whether  conscious  or  unconscious, 

Yet  humanity's  vast  frame 
Through  its  ocean-sundered  fibres 

Feels  the  gush  of  joy  or  shame. 
In  the  gain  or  loss  of  one  race 

All  the  rest  have  equal  claim." 

— James  Russell  Lowell. 


ym 

FEOM  THE  NATIONAL  TO  THE  INTER- 
NATIONAL 

IT  remains  to  trace  the  way  in  which  the  expand- 
ing message  enlarged  the  sphere  of  the  mission- 
ary's activities  during  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his 
life. 

The  treaties  revised  in  1894  did  not  go  into  effect 
until  July,  1899.  In  the  meantime,  many  were  the 
practical  questions  arising  in  the  popular  mind  with 
reference  to  the  incoming  conditions  of  "  mixed  resi- 
dence " — a  term  used  to  denote  the  free  residence  of 
foreigners  in  any  part  of  Japan,  without  the  require- 
ment of  passports  and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Japanese  civil  authorities.  The  press  discussed  the  sub- 
ject from  time  to  time,  but  generally  from  a  local  view- 
point, resulting  in  one-sided  opinions.  Thus  in  1897,  to 
quote  my  father's  account,  "  it  occurred  to  me  to  try 
the  subject  on  a  young  men's  society  where  I  was  in- 
vited to  speak.  What  they  needed  was  to  see  it  in  the 
light  of  international  law  instead  of  merely  national 
ideas.  And  as  this  led  easily  to  the  great  blessings 
Christianity  has  been  to  our  whole  Western  civilization, 
I  had  a  fine  chance  to  deliver  an  apologetic  for  Chris- 
tianity. It  took  so  well  that  I  was  asked  to  repeat  it 
three  times,  and  then  to  publish  it  for  distribution. 
.  .  .  It  was  a  new  sign  to  see  a  city  councillor,  heads 
of  villages,  leading  physicians,  school-teachers,  officials, 

259 


260  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

students,  etc.,  in  my  audiences;  and  I  never  enjoyed 
personal  talks  more.  One  young  man  of  thirty,  whom 
I  met  six  months  ago,  had  told  me  it  was  impossible  to 
believe  in  the  existence  of  God.  He  was  baptized  this 
time.  Another,  who  had  studied  law  in  Tokyo,  had 
said  indifferently,  '  Oh,  Christianity  is  pretty  good  in  its 
moral  teachings,  but  such  superstitions  as  belief  in  God 
and  in  a  future  life  had  better  be  left  out ! '  He  opened 
his  house  to  a  preaching  service  and  got  over  fifty  of 
the  leading  people  to  hear  us,  and  has  just  joined  the 
Christians  in  a  request  for  an  evangelist." 

The  publication  of  this  address  on  "Mixed  Eesi- 
dence  "as  a  tract  was  most  timely.  The  first  addition 
of  three  thousand  copies  was  sold  out  in  two  weeks ; 
summaries  or  reviews  of  it  were  widely  circulated  in 
the  newspapers,  and  it  was  said  to  have  gone  even  into 
the  palace.  In  a  tour  to  Kyushu  shortly  afterwards, 
the  most  frequent  method  of  introducing  the  speaker  to 
his  audiences  there  was  as  "  the  only  foreigner  who  has 
written  on  the  problem  that  we  are  all  interested  in — 
mixed  residence."  The  tract  explained  in  a  popular 
way  how  it  had  come  about  that  Japan  was  the  first 
non-Christian  nation  with  which  Western  nations  had 
been  willing  to  make  treaties  of  equality  ;  how  never- 
theless, on  account  of  differences  in  language,  customs, 
and  thought,  more  or  less  friction  might  follow  the 
radically  changed  conditions  that  these  treaties  would 
bring  about ;  how  Japanese  were  mistaken  in  thinking 
that  they  understood  the  West,  inasmuch  as  they  had 
studied  mainly  its  material  civilization,  to  the  neglect 
of  the  spiritual  forces  from  which  that  civilization  had 
sprung,  and  how,  therefore,  a  knowledge  of  Christianity 
on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  was  essential  to  the  happy 


COVER    OF    TRACT    ON     "MIXED    RESIDENCE" 
A    foreigner   and   a    Japanese    exchanging   cordial   greetings   before 
decorated   with   New  Year   symbols 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEBKATIONAL    261 

outworking  of  the  new  political  and  social  conditions. 
The  necessity  of  this  knowledge  was  further  empha- 
sized in  a  tract  on  "  Modern  Civilization  and  Christian- 
ity," which  likewise  had  an  unusual  sale. 

The  new  political  and  social  conditions  worked  them- 
selves out  in  Sendai  with  phenomenal  success — a  suc- 
cess that  has  helped  largely  in  creating  in  that  city  one 
of  the  most  favourable  environments  for  Christianity 
that  can  be  found  in  Japan  to-day.  In  tracing  the  steps 
of  this  success,  I  would  not  give  undue  prominence  to  the 
part  my  father  had  in  it.  As  the  oldest  American  res- 
ident and  at  times  chairman  of  the  foreign  community, 
he  naturally  took  a  leading  part  in  this  development. 
But  with  a  missionary  community  numbering  from 
thirty  to  forty  people,  it  involved  working  together, 
and  without  the  noble  cooperation  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Schneder,  and  others  who  saw  the  vital  relation  of  the 
environment  to  the  work,  the  results  would  have  been 
impossible. 

In  the  first  place,  a  year  before  the  treaties  went  into 
effect,  some  prominent  citizens  proposed  a  union  social 
meeting  of  Japanese  and  foreigners  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  better  acquainted.  They  felt  that  the  mission- 
aries contented  themselves  with  intercourse  with 
Christians  or  inquirers  after  Christianity,  whereas  the 
non-Christians  desired  a  better  opportunity  of  social  ex- 
changes. At  my  father's  suggestion,  the  foreigners, 
instead  of  being  the  invited  guests  of  the  occasion,  were 
included  with  the  Japanese  as  "  originators "  of  the 
meeting,  and  invitations  were  sent  out  in  the  name  of 
a  joint  committee.  The  feast, — this  time  on  Japanese 
initiative, — was  without  geisha  and  sake,  and  thus  dem- 
onstrated that  these  features  were  not  social  necessities. 


262  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

Another  step  forward  came  through  the  visit  of  the 
United  States  minister,  Colonel  A.  E.  Buck.  Colonel 
Buck  was  a  man  of  noble  Christian  statesmanship,  and 
one  who  welcomed  missionaries  as  cordially  as  any 
other  class  of  Americans  to  both  the  social  and  the 
official  life  of  the  legation.  My  father  was  one  of  the 
many  who  enjoyed  his  friendship  ;  and  when  my  fa- 
ther invited  him  to  visit  Sendai,  saying  that  as  yet  no 
United  States  minister  nor  consul  had  paid  a  visit  to 
the  groups  of  American  missionaries  living  outside  the 
open  ports,  Minister  Buck's  reply  was,  "  Then  I  will ; 
as  citizens  of  our  Kepublic  they  are  worthy  of  recogni- 
tion. "  So  he  visited  Sendai  as  the  guest  of  the  mis- 
sionaries; and  when  approached  by  the  mayor  and 
other  prominent  Japanese  gentlemen  with  an  invitation 
to  a  feast,  his  courteous  reply  that  he  should  be  de- 
lighted to  accept  if  it  did  not  interfere  with  the  plans 
of  his  hosts  the  missionaries,  at  once  gave  the  latter  a 
standing  they  had  never  had  before. 

They  began  to  need  to  give  more  time  to  the  formal- 
ities of  social  life  in  the  higher  circles  of  the  city. 
Farewell  receptions  to  retiring  governors  and  welcomes 
to  incoming  ones  ;  attentions  shown  by  the  Japanese  to 
American  visitors,  such  as  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark  and  Dr. 
D.  S.  Jordan  ;  a  memorial  service  for  President  Mc- 
Kinley, — such  were  some  of  the  occasions  that  brought 
the  two  nationalities  together.  But  not  all  at  once. 
"  Aside  from  formal  congratulatory  dinners  six  months 
ago,"  wrote  my  father  early  in  1900,  "  there  is  no 
marked  drawing  together  of  Japanese  and  foreigners. 
I  think  they  see  that  political  equality  makes  even 
more  marked  the  social  inequality.  Moral  standards 
are  different."    Moral  standards  were  indeed  being 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEENATIONAL     263 

much  discussed  throughout  the  nation.  The  press  had 
been  beating  out  what  one  Japanese  leader  of  thought 
had  termed  the  "one  unassimilatable  element"  in 
Christianity. 

"  The  conservatives  have  at  last  come  out  of  their 
shell,"  wrote  my  father,  "  and  say  flatly  that  Chris- 
tianity, being  a  religion  of  strict  monogamy,  will 
surely  imperil  the  imperial  line,  and  therefore  should  be 
opposed  and  discouraged  in  every  possible  way.  .  .  . 
And  what  better  thing  could  we  ask  for  than  to  have 
this  question  raised  at  once  ?  The  best  men  of  Japan 
will,  if  pushed,  openly  side  with  the  Christian  standards, 
on  the  ground  that  Japan  will  never  be  able  to  escape 
from  the  charge  of  inferiority  and  semi-barbarism  un- 
less this  stand  be  taken.  The  deeper  moral  conscience 
of  the  nation  that  is  being  evolved  sides  with  us." 

The  marriage  of  the  Crown  Prince  in  1900  and  his 
establishment  of  a  strictly  monogamous  household  was 
a  sufficient  object  lesson  to  the  authors  of  these  patriotic 
protests.  That  a  national  system  of  morals,  or  a  na- 
tional religion  peculiar  to  the  Japanese  could  not  stand 
the  test  of  international  intercourse,  was  coming  to  be 
seen.  At  this  juncture  two  new  tracts  of  my  father's, 
on  "  The  Japanese  Family," '  and  "  Universal  Re- 
ligion," had  a  hearty  reception.  The  withdrawal  of 
Pure  Shintoism,  as  represented  by  the  Ise  shrine,  from 
the  claim  to  be  a  religion,2  soon  marked  the  progress  of 
thought  in  this  same  direction  of  universality  in  human 
fundamentals. 

The  next  social  step  in  Sendai  was  a  large  garden 
party,  in  which  the  missionaries  were  invited  to  unite. 
This  time  Japanese  ladies  were  present  with  their  hus- 

1  P.  217.  2  P.  250c. 


264  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

bands.  The  Japanese  had  excluded  from  the  list  of 
invitations  households  that  contained  concubines  ;  and 
thus,  as  a  city  editor  said,  the  occasion  marked  an  era 
in  social  and  moral  movements  of  the  city. 

Space  forbids  mention  of  all  the  other  occasions  that 
in  the  next  ten  years  drew  the  Japanese  and  the  foreign 
residents  of  Sendai  together,  but  a  few  special  incidents 
demand  a  place.  When  Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall, 
Barrows  lecturer  for  India,  was  lecturing  in  Japan  also 
and  was  expected  in  Sendai,  the  natural  first  thought 
was  that  the  arrangements  for  his  lectures  should  be 
made  by  the  missionaries  and  the  churches  of  the  city. 
My  father  felt,  however,  that  if  Dr.  Hall  were  the 
guest  of  the  churches  his  message  would  meet  mainly 
the  Christians ;  whereas  if  a  non-Christian  committee 
could  be  organized  that  would  take  the  matter  up  in 
earnest  and  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  a  much 
larger  audience  would  be  reached.  He  therefore  sug- 
gested this  plan  to  the  mayor,  who  eagerly  acted  on 
the  suggestion  and  formed  a  committee  of  prominent 
citizens  to  take  Dr.  Hall's  program  in  charge.  The  re- 
sult was,  to  state  the  interesting  reverse  of  the  ordinary 
situation,  "  the  non-Christian  citizens  invited  the  native 
and  foreign  Christian  representatives  to  hear  these 
Christian  lectures  "  in  the  hall  of  the  government  col- 
lege, that  had  been  fitted  up  with  electric  lights  for  the 
occasion.  Two  thousand  tickets  were  issued ;  the 
moral  value  of  the  lectures  was  felt  alike  by  Buddhists 
and  Christians ;  and  leading  people  of  the  city  did  all 
in  their  power  to  entertain  Dr.  Hall  and  to  show  their 
appreciation  of  his  services.  As  he  sailed  for  America, 
Dr.  Hall  wrote :  "  Nothing  in  Japan  has  approached 
the  result  at  Sendai.     I  am  amazed,  as  I  think  it  all 


FROM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL     265 

over,  by  the  splendid  open-minded ness  towards  Chris- 
tianity exhibited  by  the  Sendai  officials  and  army  offi- 
cers. And  I  love  to  remember  the  presence  of  the 
Japanese  ladies  in  everything,  and  the  grace  and  dig- 
nity of  their  demeanour.  I  thank  God  for  this  experi- 
ence." Again  later  he  thus  expressed  his  sense  of  the 
value  of  the  atmosphere  that  had  been  created  in 
Sendai,  by  saying  that  that  city  represented  "  that 
which  is  best  and  highest  in  the  vocation  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  missionary." 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Russia  was  one  more 
occasion  for  the  increase  of  friendly  relations.  When 
the  city  gave  its  farewell  reception  for  the  officers  of 
the  Sendai  Division  leaving  for  the  front,  the  foreign- 
ers were  included  among  the  hosts,  the  military  men 
being  the  only  guests.  "  I  wanted  to  go,"  wrote  my 
father,  "  especially  to  see  the  moral  level  of  such  an 
occasion.  I  attended  a  Loyal  Legion  banquet  in  New 
York  last  fall  where  five  hundred  of  our  civil  war  of- 
ficers feasted,  and  I  delighted  in  the  real  spiritual  un- 
dertone that  prevailed.  Here  too  was  a  deep  moral 
feeling  of  responsibility." 

Missionaries  joined  the  Japan  Red  Cross  Society,  and 
the  women  among  them  enrolled  themselves  in  the 
Volunteer  Nurses'  Association,  aiding  in  meeting 
wounded  soldiers  from  the  front,  and  visiting  them  in 
the  military  hospitals  with  gifts  of  flowers,  books, 
tracts,  and  other  comforts  for  mind  or  body  ;  Christian 
talks  and  Christian  singing  were  also  permitted  from 
time  to  time.  Such  of  the  Christian  workers  as  could 
take  up  work  for  soldiers  found  it  rich  in  its  seed-sow- 
ing possibilities,  not  only  because  it  reached  the  soldiers 
themselves,  but  also  for  the  association  that  it  gave 


266  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

with  the  ladies  of  Sendai,  who  were  ungrudgingly 
giving  themselves  to  patriotic  service  for  soldiers.  So 
cordial  did  the  feeling  towards  America  become  in 
Sendai  that  when  Dr.  Schneder  returned  to  America  on 
furlough  in  1905,  some  leading  citizens  sent  by  him  a 
handsome  Japanese  sword  to  President  Koosevelt,  who 
expressed  due  appreciation  of  this  unexpected  token  of 
international  friendship. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  entente  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan,  as  expressed  in  the  open  letters  of 
Secretary  Koot  and  Baron  Takahira  in  1908,  the  Amer- 
ican residents  were  invited  as  guests  of  the  city  to  a 
gathering  in  celebration  of  the  event.  Kepresentatives 
of  every  department  of  the  city  life  participated  in 
this  gathering,  and  the  mayor  exchanged  congratula- 
tory telegrams  with  the  United  States  ambassador,  Mr. 
O'Brien.  An  address  in  response  to  the  addresses  of 
the  governor  and  the  mayor  was  made  by  my  father, 
and  Dr.  Schneder  led  the  audience  in  Banzai  for  the 
Emperor  of  Japan.  The  Americans  in  turn  took  the 
occasion  of  President  Taft's  inauguration  in  1909  to 
invite  a  hundred  of  their  Japanese  hosts  to  a  dinner  in 
the  hall  of  the  Baptist  Girls'  School,  which  was  deco- 
rated for  the  evening  with  the  sparrows  and  bamboo  of 
the  coat-of-arms,  or  crest,  of  the  feudal  lord  of  Sendai. 
The  after-dinner  speeches  of  cordial  understanding 
were  no  less  genuine  and  significant  because  Sendai 
was  getting  used  to  that  sort  of  thing.  It  had  become 
oriented  to  a  sense  of  international  good- will  and  fel- 
lowship: it  was  beginning  to  understand  what  the 
brotherhood  of  man  might  mean  in  overcoming  racial 
and  religious  differences. 

To  retrace  our  steps  a  little,  however,  the  war  of- 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    267 

fered  my  father  a  far  broader  field  than  Sendai  for  the 
preaching  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  social  con- 
ditions of  peace,  liberty,  and  love  that  are  to  charac- 
terize it.  Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  conflict,  on  a 
tour  he  was  given  an  opportunity  to  speak  extempora- 
neously on  "  How  Americans  Regard  This  "War." 

"  I  happened  to  be  fairly  alive  on  this  subject,"  he 
writes,  "and  told  them  that  since  Japan  had  so  heart- 
ily adopted  those  free  institutions  that  our  ancestors 
had  fought  for  and  that  we  prized  so  much,  we  could 
not  but  deeply  sympathize  with  her  against  the  despot- 
ism and  repeated  cruelties  and  untruthful  diplomacy  of 
Russia.  And  as  the  Japanese  are  most  open-minded 
towards  all  friendly  criticism,  I  told  them  frankly  that 
now  the  eyes  of  all  the  world  are  on  them  and  every 
defect  stands  out  in  white  light.  Therefore  every  one 
should  do  all  that  is  possible  to  remove  the  two  na- 
tional stains  of  lack  of  commercial  morality  and  the 
evil  reputation  of  their  women  in  all  the  open  ports  of 
the  East.  It  is  a  splendid  characteristic  of  this  people," 
he  added,  "  that  they  hate  flattery  and  love  the  criti- 
cisms of  one  whom  they  regard  as  a  friend." 

The  first  thoughts  of  this  impromptu  address  were 
worked  over  into  a  tract,  "  Why  America  Sympathizes 
with  Japan."  The  gist  of  it  is  in  the  following  para- 
graph from  the  English  version  : 

"  It  is  because  Japan  stands  for  those  great  liberties 
of  constitutional  government,  of  universal  education,  of 
equal  justice,  of  religious  faith,  that  we  are  attracted  to 
her  in  this  crisis.  It  is  because  her  international  inter- 
course has  been  honourable.  We  feel  that  the  battle 
Japan  is  now  fighting  is  for  humanity.  If  Russia 
should    win  the  victory,   all  these  precious  liberties 


268  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

would  be  lost  in  the  East  and  the  progress  of  the  whole 
world  set  back.  If  Japan  wins,  the  light  of  political 
and  religious  liberty  will  flood  the  whole  East,  and  will 
aid  the  salvation  of  China  and  also  the  final  reforma- 
tion of  Kussia.  As  a  missionary  of  Jesus  Christ,"  he 
added  in  closing,  "  I  deeply  regret  that  there  should 
ever  be  war  between  two  nations.  .  .  .  The  Chris- 
tian principle  is  for  universal  peace  and  true  brother- 
hood. But  when  a  nation  tries  by  injustice  and  tyranny 
to  prevent  the  good  of  the  world,  it  is  right  and  noble 
to  resist,  and  to  pray  that  God  will  defeat  all  injustice 
and  inhumanity." 

This  tract  seemed  to  meet  the  spirit  of  the  hour. 
"  If  it  serves  to  elevate  the  moral  purpose  of  the  war," 
said  the  writer,  "  or  if  it  is  only  an  educator  as  to  the 
political  and  religious  differences  of  the  two  nations  at 
war,  it  will  have  paid  for  the  morning  or  two  it  took  to 
write  it."  It  was  reproduced  in  China  and  the  United 
States  ;  it  had  an  extensive  circulation  in  Japan,  an  in- 
troduction by  General  Miyoshi  having  added  to  its 
favour ;  and  it  followed  its  predecessor  on  "  Mixed 
Eesidence  "  into  the  palace.  One  or  two  distinguished 
gentlemen  in  Sendai  took  enough  interest  to  ask  Ad- 
miral Ito  for  a  commendation  of  it,  to  be  published  in 
the  second  edition.  This  was  granted,  and  a  thousand 
copies  each  were  presented  by  the  author  to  the  army 
and  the  navy. 

Through  the  offices  of  the  United  States  legation,  he 
was  registered  early  in  the  war  as  war  correspondent 
for  the  New  York  Independent,  which  had  cabled  a  re- 
quest to  him  for  such  service.  During  the  first  year 
of  the  war,  he  wrote  for  that  magazine  sketches  of  war 
conditions  or  war  heroes  as  seen  from  the  Japan  point 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    269 

of  view.  But  in  1905  came  the  opportunity  to  go  to 
Manchuria,  the  field  of  battle.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  had  been  permitted  to  open  Chris- 
tian work  among  the  soldiers  at  three  stations  in  Man- 
churia. Mr.  Kansford  S.  Miller,  later  of  the  Oriental 
Bureau  of  the  State  Department  at  "Washington,  was 
then  interpreter  to  the  American  Legation  at  Tokyo. 
He  had  long  had  helpful  relations  with  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  Japan,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  its  advisory  committee.  Being  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  my  father's,  he  secured  for  him  the  opportu- 
nity of  visiting  the  seat  of  war  to  give  addresses  to 
soldiers  at  the  various  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion headquarters.  My  father's  long-standing  admira- 
tion for  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation in  Japan  made  this  chance  to  join  forces  with 
them  doubly  grateful.  His  office  of  war  correspondent 
gave  him  additional  opportunities  of  seeing  conditions 
at  the  front.  Further,  his  acquaintance  with  many  of- 
ficers and  soldiers  from  Sendai  made  easier  the  access 
to  them  in  Manchuria. 

Before  starting  for  his  six  weeks  in  Manchuria,  he 
was  granted  interviews  with  Viscount  Terauchi,  Minis- 
ter of  War,  and  Premier  Katsura,  who  on  his  own  ini- 
tiative furnished  him  with  letters  of  introduction  to  all 
the  commanding  generals  at  the  front — "  except  Kuro- 
patkin." 

At  Dalny  he  was  cordially  received  by  his  Sendai 
friend,  General  Nishi,  Military  Administrator  of  the 
Liaotung  Peninsula,  who  put  at  his  disposal  for  two 
nights  the  large  Chinese  theatre  in  the  city.  There  he 
delivered  his  first  addresses  to  the  soldiers,  on  "  War 
and  Religion,"  and   "The  American  Spirit."    These 


270  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

were  afterwards  printed  as  tracts  and  distributed  in 
military  hospitals  both  in  Manchuria  and  in  Japan.  In 
order  to  facilitate  his  movements  in  Manchuria,  Gen- 
eral Nishi  gave  him  in  his  passport  the  temporary  rank 
of  a  sakwan,  or  "  field  officer,"  making  him  virtually 
the  guest  of  the  army ;  or,  as  General  McArthur  stated 
it  to  him  at  a  lunch  of  the  American  attaches  in  Muk- 
den, "  You  are  now  the  guest  of  H.  I.  M.  the  Emperor 
of  Japan.  For  he  provides  from  his  private  purse  the 
expenses  of  all  the  foreign  military  attaches  in  the 
army,  the  Diet  having  failed  to  make  any  appropria- 
tion for  such  a  purpose."  General  Mshi  also  gave  him 
permission  to  visit  all  the  battle-fields  and  to  photo- 
graph freely,  excepting  general  views  that  involved 
fortifications. 

These  privileges  allowed  him  to  go  farther  than  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  centres ;  thus  his 
visits  to  hospitals  and  his  addresses  to  soldiers  were  not 
limited  to  the  places  of  his  original  expectation.  At 
Mukden  he  was  further  given  the  liberal  permission  to 
go  forward  to  the  firing  line,  and  to  remain  with  the 
army  as  long  as  he  desired ;  but  the  weariness  of  the 
unusual  life  and  the  excitement  and  ardour  of  his  work 
had  told  on  his  health ;  and  counting  discretion  the 
greater  part  of  valour,  he  turned  east  to  Antung  and 
returned  to  Japan  by  way  of  the  Korean  ports.  I 
quote  from  his  report  of  "What  I  Found  in  Man- 
churia," in  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  as  his 
best  summary  of  the  experiences  and  impressions  of 
those  weeks. 

"  I  found  the  army  in  dead  earnest  over  the  immense 
work  before  them.  They  had  already  fought  twenty 
great  battles,  every  one  a  grand  victory  ;  but  there  was 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL     271 

not  a  particle  of  '  swelled  head,'  nor  any  boasting  of 
power,  nor  easy  talk  of  future  victories.  The  men 
were  serious.  The  last  battle  alone  (Mukden)  had  cost 
them  fifty-seven  thousand  killed  and  wounded,  and  all 
southern  trains,  sometimes  seventy  cars  behind  one  en- 
gine,  were  loaded  with  the  sick  and  wounded.     The 

hospitals  were  more  than  full There  were  no 

drunken  feasts,  no  geisha  girls,  no  gambling,  no  demor- 
alizing loafing  after  the  victories,  but  ceaseless  prepara- 
tion for  the  next  battle.  I  heard  of  instances  of  looting 
and  violence  by  a  few  of  the  soldiers,  but  they  were  so 
rare  that  I  can  only  conclude  there  never  was  a  large 
army  on  foreign  soil  that  behaved  so  well  as  this  Japa- 
nese army  of  half  a  million  men.  To  be  sure,  I  did  not 
see  the  real  army — that  was  way  above  Mukden ;  but 
in  the  rear  of  an  advancing  army  you  can  easily  hear 
things  if  there  is  anything  to  be  told.  And  judging 
from  what  I  saw,  ...  I  am  glad  to  tell  the  people 
of  America  that  the  Japanese  army  is  one  of  the  mor- 
ally cleanest  and  most  orderly  that  ever  existed  in  war 
times. 

"  Here  I  must  mention  the  universal  spirit  of  kind- 
ness towards  the  Russians.  I  saw  thousands  of  Russian 
prisoners,  both  well  and  wounded,  and  I  confess  it  was 
a  revelation  to  me  of  the  kindness  of  the  Japanese 
heart  to  see  how  they  treated  these  men.  .  .  .  Not 
even  once  did  I  see  a  contemptuous  look  towards  the 
captives.  On  the  contrary,  I  saw  officers  with  kindest 
of  looks  unload  all  their  cigarettes  and  hardtack  on  to 
these  prisoners — not  officers,  mind  you,  but  the  igno- 
rant, dirty  privates.     .     .     . 

"  I  found  '  hell ' — there  is  no  other  word  for  war  in 
some  of  its  aspects.     I  stood  on  trenches  around  Port 


272  JOHN  HYDE  DEFOREST 

Arthur  where  the  skulls  and  limbs  and  bodies  of 
mingled  Japanese  and  Kussians  were  visible,  piled  on 
top  of  one  another  in  layers.  I  saw  the  '  tiger-traps,' 
covered  with  barbed  wire,  where  men  had  charged 
with  bayonets,  fighting,  killing  like  devils,  until  the 
tiger-trap  holes  were  literally  filled  with  corpses.  .  .  . 
The  wounded  were  left  to  die,  or  to  be  stabbed  to 
death  by  some  barbarian  hand.  I  saw  men  with  eyes 
shot  out,  with  a  jaw  shot  off,  with  arms  and  legs  gone, 
men  whose  faces  were  drawn  in  torture,  who  would 
to-morrow  be  in  the  morgue.  I  saw  places  where 
villages  had  been,  and  where  now  is  one  extended 
graveyard.  It  is  as  General  Sherman  said  :  '  War  is 
hell.' 

"  But  I  found  heaven  also.  On  that  little  peninsula 
called  Liaotung,  God  is  working  out  some  of  the 
greatest  problems  that  concern  the  salvation  of  the 
East,  and  that  bear  upon  a  far  better  mutual  under- 
standing of  the  East  and  the  West.  In  the  progress 
and  education  of  the  human  race  God  has  used  war  to 
deepen  the  spirit  of  righteousness,  to  overthrow  wide 
iniquity  and  rotten  governments,  to  give  liberty  to  the 
peoples  of  the  earth.  War  is  one  of  the  terrible  things 
that  bring  men  to  their  knees  in  dependence  on  a 
righteous  God.  The  sword  is  not  all  bad :  it  is  good 
when  '  bathed  in  heaven  '  and  drawn  only  for  righteous- 
ness' sake. 

"I  think  I  never  had  a  deeper  impression  of  the 
presence  of  God  working  for  the  overthrow  of  despot- 
ism, for  the  awakening  of  these  Eastern  nations,  for  the 
essential  brotherhood  of  man,  than  I  had  on  approach- 
ing this  little  piece  of  earth,  where  such  vast  problems 
are  being  solved  in  floods  of  blood  and  pain.     We  have 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    273 

the  blessings  we  now  enjoy  because  of  the  sword  of 
our  ancestors  and  the  blood  they  shed.  So  it  is  here. 
Nothing  will  move  the  hearts  of  the  Russian  people  as 
this  useless  war,  waged  in  the  interests  of  a  despotic 
government,  backed  by  a  despotic  church.  Nothing 
will  so  arouse  the  millions  of  China  as  the  sight  of 
Japan  fighting,  not  only  for  its  own  existence,  but  also 
for  the  integrity  of  China.  God  is  indeed  here  shaking 
the  nations.  And  out  of  this  struggle  is  coming  liberty 
for  Russia,  safety  and  progress  for  China,  a  more  rapid 
extension  of  Christian  thought  and  life  through  Japan, 
and  a  better  international  law  for  the  world." 

After  his  return  to  Japan,  there  was  a  new  note  of 
courage  and  triumph  in  his  preaching  of  the  coming 
Kingdom  of  God.  He  had  seen  as  never  before  how 
God  can  work  through  the  strife  and  horror  of  war  to 
bring  about  His  great  designs.  Such  topics  as  "  Man- 
churia with  God,"  and  "  The  Fatherhood  of  God,  as 
applied  to  the  society  and  world  of  this  age,"  were 
among  those  used  by  him  to  bring  out  the  old  truths 
with  a  new  emphasis.  "  I  never  felt  that  I  had  such 
a  message  before,"  he  wrote,  "  and  Japan  is  now  ripe 
for  it." 

The  next  call  for  international  work  came  to  him  in 
America,  when  he  returned  on  his  third  furlough  in 
the  spring  of  1907.  He  took  the  route  by  India  and 
Marseilles,  and  lingered  the  good  part  of  a  month  in 
France  and  England.  The  glimpses  from  Hongkong 
to  Egypt  of  England's  colonial  policy,  and  of  the 
power  and  blessing  of  her  influence,  were  supplemented 
by  voyage  reading  that  further  enlarged  his  knowledge 
of  the  way  the  two  great  hemispheres  were  coming 
together.     It  was  also  from  the  point  of  view  of  race 


274  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOBEST 

progress  that  France  and  England  interested  him  most. 
"  What  impresses  me  in  France,"  he  wrote  back  to  the 
Japan  mission,  "  is  the  contest  between  a  belated 
church  and  a  progressive  government,  and  the  church 
is  badly  left.  England  seems  to  me  to  be  a  wonder- 
fully Christian  nation,  but  the  priestly  side  of  things 
is  being  overhauled  by  the  prophetic  side." 

The  autumn  before  leaving  Japan,  desirous  of  having 
for  his  American  addresses  a  wide  basis  of  information 
about  the  Christianization  of  Japan,  including  all  help- 
ful influences  outside  of  direct  Christian  work,  he  had 
spent  a  week  with  Mr.  Miller  at  the  United  States 
Embassy  (which  had  replaced  the  former  legation) ; 
with  the  latter's  help  he  got  into  touch  with  some  of 
the  leading  men  of  the  capital,  learning  from  them 
how  Christianity  was  indirectly,  as  well  as  directly  ? 
influencing  the  nation  through  the  national  leaders. 
"  It  was  rich — this  last  week's  education  in  your  uni- 
versity," he  wrote  back  to  his  host :  "  and  it  will 
colour  much  of  my  next  year's  work  in  the  United 
States." 

Kumours  of  anti-Japanese  feeling  in  America  had 
reached  him  in  Japan  ;  but  on  his  arrival  in  the  United 
States  he  found  the  wideness  and  the  intensity  of  this 
feeling  far  beyond  his  expectation.  Especially  per- 
sistent and  prevalent  was  the  rumour  of  Japan's  inten- 
tion to  wage  war  against  the  United  States.  This  mis- 
apprehension he  made  it  his  mission,  as  far  as  in  him 
lay,  to  correct.  With  his  knowledge  of  Japan's  history, 
of  her  present  movements,  and  of  the  spirit  of  her 
leaders,  he  was  able  to  speak  authoritatively  of  her 
dislike  for  war  and  of  the  reality  of  her  friendship  for 
the  United  States.     This  he  did  not  only  from  the  pul 


FKOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    275 

pits  where  he  was  asked  to  preach,  but  to  a  wider 
audience  through  the  press.  A  calm  statement  by  him 
of  the  reasons  that  made  war  with  Japan  improbable 
was  published  in  the  Congregationalist  under  the  title, 
"  American  Misunderstandings  of  Japan  ;  "  and  through 
the  action  of  a  public-spirited  citizen,  this  was  reprinted 
in  pamphlet  form,  circulated  in  the  national  congress 
at  Washington,  and  sent  to  every  main  library  in  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  in  quantity  to  every  United 
States  battle-ship  going  to  the  Pacific. 

Some  months  later,  in  1908,  while  in  Hartford  for  his 
series  of  lectures  at  the  Theological  Seminary,  he  heard 
an  address  under  the  auspices  of  the  city  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  by  Congressman  K.  P.  Hobson 
on  "  America's  Mighty  Mission,"  the  mission  of  peace— 
to  preserve  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  be  prepared 
for  war  with  Japan.  Of  this  nation  the  speaker  de- 
clared that  she  had  had  the  "  war  habit  for  more  than 
eight  hundred  years  "  ;  and  that  "  it  is  inevitable  that 
as  Japanese  emerge  from  wars  of  their  own,  they 
engage  in  wars  with  other  countries."  The  next  morn- 
ing my  father  wrote  home  : 

"Last  night  heard  Hobson  with  astonishment  and 
indignation.  Couldn't  get  to  sleep  for  a  while,  and  had 
I  my  materials  here,  I  should  have  rushed  into  print 
against  this  agitator  and  breeder  of  ill-will.  ...  I 
went  to  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  have 
just  had  a  long  talk  with  the  secretary  that  introduced 
Hobson.  I  told  him  that  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation is  the  greatest  Christian  work  in  Japan,  but 
when  Hobson's  speeches  under  auspices  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  are  published  in  Tokyo,  as  surely 
they  will  be,  the  stock  of  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 


276  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

sociation  will  fall  tremendously  in  all  the  East.  The  sec- 
retary was  astonished  at  this  international  significance, 
and  owned  he  had  been  troubled  over  what  Hartford 
would  do  about  it,  but  hadn't  thought  of  Tokyo.  So 
he's  going  to  write  Mott  &  Co.,  repudiating  the  lecture, 
and  ask  him  to  write  to  Tokyo  repudiating  it,  so  as  to 
have  that  on  tap  in  case  the  papers  there  come  out. 
.  .  .  5  p.  M. — My  morning's  work  paid.  The 
secretary  comes  out  in  the  Times  disclaiming  any 
responsibility  for  Hobson's  views." 

On  returning  to  his  home  base  and  his  books  and 
papers,  my  father  launched  a  vigorous  protest  in  "  An 
Open  Letter  to  Hobson "  in  the  Hartford  Courant, 
exposing  the  false  basis  of  history  and  diplomacy  on 
which  the  congressman's  statements  about  Japan  were 
founded,  and  demonstrating  the  non-existence  of  war 
probabilities  between  Japan  and  the  United  States  by 
quoting  declarations  from  leaders  of  both  nations.  A 
closing  paragraph  from  this  missile  summarizes  its 
principal  arguments : 

"  For  the  sake  of  Japan,  whose  people  I  respect  and 
love,  and  whose  spirit  I  believe  will  bring  generous 
help  to  the  world  in  the  peaceful  solution  of  the  greatest 
of  all  twentieth  century  problems — the  coming  together 
of  the  East  and  the  West— I  openly  affirm  that  your 
statements  about  the  war  habit  of  the  Japanese  and 
their  war  designs  on  our  Eepublic  have  no  better 
foundation  than  that  furnished  by  your  ignorance  of 
history  and  of  diplomatic  usages  between  governments. 
And  for  the  sake  of  the  religion  that  I  believe  is  the 
greatest  force  that  will  bind  the  race  of  man,  north, 
south,  east,  and  west,  in  one  abiding  brotherhood,  I 
must  protest  against  your  using  Christian  platforms 


FKOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    277 

and  quoting  Christian  Scripture  while  poisoning  the 
minds  of  your  hearers  against  a  people  whose  friend- 
ship the  millions  of  this  land  prize." 

The  immediate  result  of  this  letter  in  Hartford  was 
the  holding  of  a  citizens'  meeting,  which  my  father  was 
invited  to  address.  The  meeting  was  of  a  purely 
constructive  nature,  and  no  mention  was  made  of  the 
man  who  had  started  the  train  of  thought  in  Hartford  ; 
but  on  the  motion  of  President  Mackenzie  of  the  Semi- 
nary, the  assembly  passed  by  a  unanimous  rising  vote  a 
resolution  of  friendship,  protesting  "  against  the  wide- 
spread and  systematic  efforts  that  have  been  made  by 
some  journals  and  individuals  to  foment  distrust  and 
enmity  between  two  friendly  nations,"  and  further 
branding  as  "  malicious  and  unwarrantable  all  the 
statements  which  have  tended  to  throw  suspicion  upon 
the  integrity  of  the  governments  of  both  our  own 
nation  and  Japan."  These  resolutions  were  transmitted 
by  order  of  the  meeting  to  the  Japanese  ambassador  at 
Washington. 

Moreover,  outside  of  Hartford,  the  "  Open  Letter " 
met  a  reception  that  proved  its  timeliness.  The  Amer- 
ican Peace  Society  reproduced  it  with  an  account  of  the 
Hartford  meeting  under  the  title  of  "  The  Truth  About 
Japan,"  printing  it  not  only  in  its  organ,  The  Advocate 
of  Peace,  but  also  as  a  broadside,  which  it  sent  to 
every  important  newspaper  in  the  United  States. 

This  society  further  printed  as  a  booklet  an  address 
given  by  him  at  a  Saturday  luncheon  of  the  Twentieth 
Century  Club  in  Boston,  on  "  Is  Japan  a  Menace  to  the 
United  States  ?  " — in  which  he  at  once  brands  his  sub- 
ject as  an  "unspeakable  question."  He  reviews  the 
usual  charges  against  Japanese  character — commercial 


278  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

dishonesty,  immorality,  brutality  (in  Korea),  and  secret 
plotting  against  the  United  States — and  shows  that 
whatever  truth  there  is  in  these,  they  are  not  a  menace 
to  the  United  States ;  he  then  demonstrates  that  the 
greatest  barrier  to  peaceful  intercourse  between  the 
two  nations  is  the  barrier  of  language.  This  barrier, 
he  says,  the  Japanese  are  doing  their  best  to  break 
down  on  their  side,  as  they  have  now  in  commercial, 
journalistic,  educational,  and  diplomatic  circles  a  large 
body  of  specialists  in  the  histories  and  languages  of 
the  West,  and  are  thus  able  to  interpret  the  West  to 
their  people  as  it  is  revealed  in  its  press  and  present-day 
civilization. 

"  There  is  no  other  way  to  secure  hundreds  of  com- 
petent mediators  between  the  East  and  the  West  than 
for  us  to  do  as  Japan  has  so  splendidly  done,"  was  his 
closing  appeal.  "  We  should  send  our  gifted  graduates 
to  the  East  for  the  one  purpose  of  becoming  specialists 
in  every  department  of  Eastern  life.  They  cannot  go 
of  themselves,  therefore  our  universities  should  have 
three-year  scholarships  that  would  enable  young  men 
on  their  return  from  the  East  to  become  journalists, 
ministers,  and  business  men  capable  of  interpreting  the 
East  to  our  chambers  of  commerce,  our  churches,  and 
readers  of  the  daily  press.  The  government  and  our 
numerous  universities  and  our  expanding  commerce 
owe  it  to  the  people  of  this  great  republic  that  they  be 
not  again  stampeded  by  a  sensational  and  semi-ignorant 
press  as  they  were  last  year.  The  churches  by  their  mis- 
sionaries are  doing  their  part ;  but  for  the  peaceful  com- 
ing together  of  the  millions  of  the  East  with  the  millions 
of  the  West  in  mutual  respect  and  on  lines  of  brother- 
hood, the  government  and  our  universities,  and  even 


FROM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    279 

our  chambers  of  commerce,  should  as  soon  as  possible 
give  a  boom  to  this  greatly  needed  movement.  .  .  . 
As  long  as  we  are  content  with  our  ignorance  of  the 
East,  the  jingo  influences  of  the  whole  world  will  have 
their  largest  successes  on  our  soil." 

This  appeal  for  Americans  to  study  the  East  voiced 
what  was  to  his  mind  an  increasing  necessity  of  the 
times.  On  furlough,  both  through  the  press  and  in  inter- 
views with  university  presidents,  he  advocated  the  plan 
of  oriental  fellowships  for  American  students.  The 
steadily  growing  number  of  Japanese  chairs  or  lecture- 
ships in  American  universities  is  a  development  along 
the  lines  of  constructive  peace  work  as  he  saw  it ;  as  is 
also  the  recent  reorganization  of  the  Japanese  Language 
School  in  Tokyo  on  the  joint  initiative  of  the  Japan 
Peace  Society  and  the  American  Peace  Society  of 
Japan,  which  have  thus  provided  efficient  means  of 
instruction  in  Japanese  for  would-be  students  from  the 
West. 

After  returning  to  Japan,  he  further  emphasized  the 
need  of  American  students  of  the  East  by  a  pamphlet 
for  the  American  Association  for  International  Con- 
ciliation, on  "  American  Ignorance  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages." In  this  the  argument  of  the  other  pamphlet 
is  elaborated  with  illustration  and  quotation,  and  adds 
the  testimony  of  two  later  events, — one  the  cordial 
welcome  and  entertainment  accorded  the  American 
battle-ships  under  Admiral  Sperry,  on  their  peaceful 
visit  to  Japan  in  1908  ;  the  other,  the  similarly  cordial 
treatment  of  the  party  of  commercial  commissioners 
from  the  Pacific  coast  that  same  year.  In  each  case 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  a  knowledge  of  both 
languages  were  heavily  on  the  side  of  the  hosts. 


280  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

Such  international  visits  as  these,  especially  that  of 
the  commercial  commissioners,  were  to  his  mind  of 
great  importance  as  means  of  mutual  information; 
and  with  joy  he  quotes  the  report  of  the  commissioners, 
issued  on  their  return  to  America :  "  Before  visiting 
the  Empire  of  Japan,  none  of  us  had  the  slightest  con- 
ception of  the  sentiments  which  the  people  of  that 
country  bear  to  our  people.  .  .  .  The  people  of 
the  United  States  ought  to  be  proud  of  the  friends 
that  they  have  in  the  Far  East."  This  was  an  illus- 
tration of  how  mutual  knowledge  would  breed  sym- 
pathy between  the  races,  a  fact  that  he  had  realized 
afresh  on  furlough,  when  the  welcome  given  his  articles 
and  addresses  had  shown  that  the  heart  of  America 
was  still  true  to  its  historic  friendship  with  Japan,  and 
that  the  misunderstandings  about  that  nation  came 
chiefly  from  the  lack  of  reliable  information.  "On 
five  different  occasions,"  he  wrote,  "  I  tested  this  with 
large  representative  audiences  in  different  cities,  every 
one  of  which  unanimously  passed  the  most  cordial 
resolutions  of  unbroken  friendship  for  Japan." 

On  his  return  to  Sendai,  he  was  given  a  warm  re- 
ception by  citizens  of  every  class,  to  whom  his  work 
in  defense  and  interpretation  of  Japan  had  become 
known  through  the  press.  Said  one  editorial,  "  To  our 
mind  his  work  was  worth  more  than  Sperry's  sixteen 
battle-ships  in  cementing  the  friendship  [between  Japan 
and  America],  and  in  this  sense  we  extend  to  Dr. 
DeForest,  our  new  national  benefactor,  warm  welcome 
hands." 

Soon  afterwards,  in  November,  1908,  he  was  deco- 
rated by  the  Emperor  of  Japan  with  the  Fourth  Order 
of  the  Eising  Sun.     The  official  reasons  given  were  his 


J.     H.     DE    FOREST     IN     1908 
Showing  order  of  the  Rising  Sun  and  Loyal  Legion  Badge 


FKOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEENATIONAL    281 

work  for  soldiers  during  the  Kusso-Japanese  War,  and 
his  relief  work  during  the  famine  of  1906  ;  but  coming 
as  it  did  on  the  heels  of  his  arduous  American  cam- 
paign, the  decoration  seemed  to  imply  official  acknowl- 
edgment of  that  also.  His  account  of  the  conferring 
of  the  decoration  runs  thus  in  a  family  letter :  "  It  is 
to  be  worn  only  with  swallow-tail,  and  the  button  only 
with  frock  coat.  I  was  ordered  to  appear  at  the 
governor's  office  in  frock  coat,  and,  to  make  sure,  I 
wore  my  tall  hat  too.  The  chief  of  police  was  present. 
He  took  me  before  the  Imperial  Shrine  and  tried  to 
put  the  button  in  my  coat ;  but  as  it  was  a  new  coat, 
bought  just  as  I  left  Boston,  the  show  buttonhole  had 
never  been  cut.  So  he  called  for  needle  and  thread  and 
was  going  into  the  tailor  business,  when  I  drew  my  knife 
and  soon  had  a  hole  big  enough  for  any  decoration." 

Upon  the  exhilaration  of  receiving  this  national 
honour,  there  followed  the  reaction  of  a  temperament 
sensitive  to  others'  thought  of  him, — to  the  ascription 
to  him  of  worldly  motives  in  his  work  for  international 
peace,  to  the  suspicion  that  he  had  left  his  first  love  for 
direct  and  intensive  Christian  work.  It  was  a  friend 
indeed  that  wrote  him  :  "  As  for  your  fear  that  '  his 
decoration  killed  his  Christianity ' — has  what  you  have 
been  preaching  in  Manchuria  and  America,  the  work 
for  which  you  were  decorated,  been  Christian  or  not  ? 
I  confess  I  can  regard  it  in  no  other  way  than  a  very 
high  expression  of  Christianity,  applied  to  nations  as 
well  as  to  individuals.  Is  the  nation  less  than  the 
individual,  and  are  peace  and  good- will  among  nations 
less  Christian  than  peace  and  good-will  in  the  hearts  of 
individual  men  ?  God  help  us  if  missionary  work  is  to 
be  confined  to  work  for  the  individual." 


282  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

This  encouragement  was,  after  all,  but  a  restatement 
of  his  own  convictions  of  years'  standing.  His  first 
purpose  as  a  young  missionary  had  been  to  convert  a 
group  of  Japanese  to  Christianity  and  found  a  church 
like  that  of  which  he  had  been  pastor  in  America. 
After  he  had  acquired  the  language  and  had  had  a  few 
years  of  experience  in  close  contact  with  the  people, 
he  had  begun  to  realize  that  missions  were  not  the 
isolated  individual  phase  of  human  activity  that  he 
had  once  supposed  them  to  be;  that  they  were  inti- 
mately related  to  the  political  conditions,  the  economic 
and  social  status,  the  traditional  thought,  of  the  whole 
nation.  Some  of  the  work  of  Christian  missionaries, 
he  saw,  was  comparatively  unfruitful  because  unrelated 
to  much  that  was  vital  in  its  environment. 

"  The  missionary  movement  has  become  one  of  inter- 
national significance,"  he  wrote,  "  and  has  now  a  deep 
political  meaning."  He  once  said  to  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin, 
after  hearing  his  inimitable  stories  about  the  beginnings 
of  Christian  work  in  Constantinople :  "  Dr.  Hamlin,  I 
see  now  why  you  are  called  a  great  missionary.  It 
isn't  because  you  know  the  Bible  better  than  others, 
nor  is  it  on  account  of  your  preaching  ability ;  but  it  is 
because  you  know  the  methods  of  international  inter- 
course and  the  influence  of  the  legations,  and  how  to 
use  them."  "  "Well,"  replied  Dr.  Hamlin,  "  I  knew 
nothing  about  international  law  when  I  went  out ;  but 
I  soon  discovered  that  if  I  was  to  accomplish  anything, 
I  must  learn  it." 

Less  dramatically  insistent  in  Japan  than  in  Turkey, 
but  equally  deep-seated,  was  the  necessity  for  using 
international  factors  to  help  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.    International  relations  had  at 


FKOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEKNATIONAL     283 

times  been  serious  hindrances :  so-called  Christian  na- 
tions had,  by  "  huge  inconsistencies  in  war  preparations 
and  in  inability  to  suppress  vice  and  crime,"  put  upon 
the  missionary  a  heavy  burden  of  proof  to  show  that 
Christianity  had  really  the  spiritual  power  claimed  for 
it.  "  The  anti-Japanese  movement  in  California  has 
done  incalculable  damage  to  aggressive  Christian  work 
in  this  empire.  The  wicked  cry  of  the  '  yellow  peril ' 
in  the  West  has  set  back  Christian  work  all  through  the 
East  for  decades,  in  my  judgment.  The  war  with 
Russia  revealed  a  Christianity  so  overloaded  with 
defects  and  glaring  inconsistencies  that  we  had  to  hang 
our  heads  in  shame."  The  evangelization  of  the  world 
in  this  generation  he  felt  to  be  impossible.  "  We  are 
not  good  enough  }^et,"  he  said.  "  There  are  hindrances 
to  their  accepting  the  Christ  we  are  able  to  preach,  just 
in  proportion  to  hindrances  in  us,  in  our  churches  and 
nations,  that  prevent  as  yet  a  perfect  presentation  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour." 

Not  only  the  spirit,  but  also  the  method,  of  Christian 
missions  he  felt  was  affected  by  international  relations ; 
and  the  rapidity  of  Japan's  Christianization  was  de- 
pendent in  large  measure  upon  whether  missionary 
methods  were  in  keeping  with  the  political  and  psycho- 
logical conditions  of  the  twentieth  century.  Of  course 
he  had  no  doubt  of  the  ultimate  Christianization  of 
Japan :  he  believed  that  "  there  never  was  a  nation  so 
richly  prepared  morally  and  spiritually  for  the  reception 
of  the  Gospel,"  and  that,  "  in  spite  of  the  slow  progress 
of  organized  Christianity,  it  stands  true  that  no  great 
nation  was  ever  before  so  rapidly  permeated  with 
Christian  thought  as  this."  But  he  held  with  equal 
conviction  that  the  new  times  demanded  changes  of 


284  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

missionary  method  ;  and  much  of  the  work  of  the  last 
few  years  of  his  life  was  related  to  the  increasing 
"  naturalization  "  of  Christianity  in  Japan. 

Five  years  after  the  abolition  of  political  extraterrito- 
riality by  the  operation  of  the  revised  treaties,  the 
Russian  war  with  its  remarkable  series  of  victories 
aroused  in  the  Japanese  a  new  national  consciousness 
of  power  and  a  growing  feeling,  more  and  more  fre- 
quently expressed,  that  the  native  church  should  be 
free  from  foreign  control.  "The  great  fact  still 
remains,"  wrote  my  father  to  the  Board  in  1905,  "  that 
the  work  done  by  the  missions  of  Japan  is  a  kind  of  ex- 
traterritorial Christianity,  controlled  by  foreign  bodies 
with  their  responsible  agents  here ;  the  legislation  is 
largely  that  of  foreign  sects,  and  the  methods  those 
that  are  applicable  to  undeveloped  peoples.  .  .  .  The 
greatest  problem  before  the  missionaries  of  Japan  to-day 
is  how  to  hasten  the  abolition  of  religious  extraterri- 
toriality. As  things  are,  it  is  wholly  impossible  to 
really  and  deeply  affect  the  life  of  the  nation,  and  this 
is  the  great  hope  of  our  hearts.  We  are  not  content 
with  the  wretchedly  slow  manner  in  which  individuals 
are  converted  or  brought  into  the  churches.  We  want 
to  see  a  religious  movement  that  shall  swreep  over  the 
nation,  commanding  the  respect  and  willing  sacrifices 
of  tens  of  thousands,  until  the  whole  people  feel  the 
new  spiritual  fire.  It  is  impossible  on  the  old  lines. 
The  people  are  ripe  for  an  unusual  awrakening,  morally 
and  spiritually.  ...  I  do  not  think  the  day  for 
missionaries  in  Japan  has  gone  by ;  but  unless  their 
methods  are  rapidly  changed  to  fit  a  nation  that  stands 
among  the  few  foremost  nations  of  the  earth,  their  day 
is  rapidly  going  by.     ...     I  believe  we  may  yet  do 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEENATIONAL     286 

our  greatest  work  if  we  can  find  the  way  of  doing  it  so 
as  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  leaders  here.  It  is  now  a 
question  of  extraterritoriality  in  mission  methods,  and 
the  possibility  of  abolishing  it." 

The  American  Board  Mission  and  the  Kumiai 
churches  were  already  on  a  basis  of  cooperation ;  but 
besides  the  independent  churches,  there  were  some 
thirty  that  were  receiving  financial  aid  from  the  mission. 
Such  dependence  upon  foreign  support  was  galling  to 
the  independent  spirit  quickened  by  the  national 
successes.  Hence  a  joint  committee  of  the  mission  and 
the  churches,  my  father  being  a  member,  met  to  con- 
sider how  this  organized  cause  of  friction  might  be 
removed.  The  committee  conferences  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  a  plan  by  which  the  responsibility  for  the 
dependent  churches  should  be  assumed  by  the  inde- 
pendent Kumiai  body,  which  was  to  be  aided  during 
the  period  of  necessary  readjustment  by  a  diminishing 
annual  grant  for  three  years  from  the  evangelistic  funds 
of  the  mission.  This  plan  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the 
Japanese  Christians  ;  and  for  the  missionaries  it  meant 
new  opportunities  of  cooperation  and  extension  of  work. 
To  quote  again  from  my  father's  official  correspondence: 

"  I  regard  this  as  a  most  important  contribution  to 
the  solution  of  extraterritorial  Christianity.  It  opened 
the  door  at  once  to  the  sweetest  kind  of  invitation — to 
become  honourary  (or  associate)  members  of  their 
Missionary  Society,  with  as  much  or  as  little  of  re- 
sponsibility as  individuals  might  like,  each  at  full  liberty 
to  work  as  heretofore  in  the  aided  churches  and  any- 
where else,  only  now  we  should  stand  with  the  full 
Kumiai  body  behind  us.  And  especially  those  of  us 
engaged  in  direct  evangelistic  work  can  be  sure  of  a 


286  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

cordial  welcome  and  backing  from  the  independent 
churches  wherever  we  go  throughout  Japan  .  .  . — a 
change  that  will  be  of  vast  benefit  to  us  foreigners  here, 
to  the  Japanese  nation,  to  our  constituency  at  home, 
and  to  the  cause  of  missions  at  large." 

This  form  of  cooperation  left  room  for  the  Kumiai 
churches  to  give  the  call  for  new  missionaries.  At  the 
annual  mission  meeting  of  1909,  one  of  the  Kumiai 
leaders  addressed  the  mission  with  a  rousing  call  for  its 
advance  with  enlarged  forces  into  new  territory,  in 
cooperation  with  the  Kumiai  churches,  which,  he  inti- 
mated, would  at  their  next  annual  conference  take 
formal  action  requesting  the  mission  to  make  such  ad- 
vance. The  mission,  in  the  pressure  of  last  business,  at 
its  closing  session  passed  a  hasty  vote,  repeating  its  tra- 
ditional request  that  the  Board  send  out  a  certain  num- 
ber of  new  missionary  families.  To  this  vote  my 
father  was  strongly  opposed.  "  It  is  purely  extrater- 
ritorial," was  his  position,  "  a  bit  of  religious  legislation 
for  Japan — a  method  we  have  outgrown.  .  .  .  We 
owe  it  to  the  Japanese  to  give  them  the  right  of  way 
that  for  the  first  time  they  have  shown  a  disposition  to 
take.  We  owe  it  to  the  new  missionaries  who  may 
come  to  give  them  the  real  advantages  of  being 
invited  to  Japan  by  Japanese."  By  quiet  conversa- 
tions in  the  more  leisurely  atmosphere  after  the  session, 
he  succeeded  in  winning  to  his  point  of  view  so  large  a 
number  of  the  mission  that  the  vote,  when  reported  to 
the  Board,  was  accompanied  by  explanatory  letters 
conveying  the  spirit  in  which  the  reinforcements  were 
desired. 

The  summer  of  the  same  year  his  interest  in  study- 
ing the  influence  of  the  political  situation  upon  missions 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTEENATIONAL     287 

was  further  stimulated  by  his  visit  to  China.  At  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  North  China  Mission  of  the 
American  Board,  he  learned  with  surprise  of  the  con- 
trol exercised  by  the  missionaries  over  the  native  Chris- 
tian bodies,  and  of  the  partial  denationalization  of 
Chinese  Christians  through  the  special  mention  made  of 
them  in  the  treaty  with  the  United  States.  Through 
his  very  astonishment  at  the  extreme  forms  of  extra- 
territoriality seemingly  necessitated  by  the  backward- 
ness of  the  Chinese  empire,  he  could  say  with  even 
greater  emphasis  than  before  that  "  Japan,  of  all  the 
great  mission  fields,  has  the  best  political  environment 
for  missionary  work."  The  detailed  study  that  he 
made  of  the  political  status  of  foreigners  in  China  pre- 
pared him  to  voice  his  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  in- 
fluence of  that  status  upon  international  good- will  and 
the  work  of  Christian  missions  in  that  country,  in  a 
paper,  "  Extraterritoriality  in  China,"  published  by  the 
American  Association  for  International  Conciliation. 

In  Japan  the  new  form  of  cooperation  that  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  worked  out  between  the  Kumiai  churches 
and  the  mission,  gave  new  sanction  to  special  invita- 
tions to  the  missionaries  from  the  Kumiai  body, — the 
mission  in  such  cases  supplying  the  needed  travelling 
expenses  of  its  members.  My  father's  last  working 
year,  1910,  was  marked  by  two  such  invitations,  one 
for  work  in  Osaka,  one  for  work  in  Korea. 

In  Osaka  the  Christians  of  all  denominations  united  in 
an  evangelistic  campaign,  in  which  Christian  preach- 
ing was  held  five  consecutive  nights  in  each  of  the 
forty-two  churches  and  chapels  of  the  city.  This  kind 
of  campaign,  in  centres  where  Christian  organizations 
have  existed  long  enough  to  have  what  he  called  a 


288  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

"  penumbra,"  has  become  an  accepted  method  of  work 
in  Japan.  The  campaign  in  Osaka  that  spring  was 
directed  entirely  by  Japanese,  at  an  expense  of  some 
four  thousand  yen.  It  had  been  preceded  by  weeks  of 
prayerful  preparation  in  the  local  churches.  It  was 
followed  by  three  hundred  and  sixty  baptisms  on  one 
Sunday  in  the  five  Kumiai  churches  of  the  city,  and 
many  besides  in  churches  of  other  denominations.  My 
father's  joy  in  sharing  in  this  movement  was  twofold : 
it  showed  on  a  scale  "  unique  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  East "  how  effectively  a  truly  naturalized 
church  might  carry  on  the  work  of  bringing  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  and  it  gave  him,  as  he  said,  per- 
haps with  a  premonition  that  his  time  was  short,  "  a 
grand  chance  to  gather  up  all  the  experiences  of  my 
life,  and  make  them  tell  for  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and 
for  the  human-divine  Jesus,  the  eternal  Christ." 

The  visit  to  Korea  in  the  autumn  was  made  primarily 
for  work  among  the  Japanese  Kumiai  churches  there  ; 
but  with  the  added  invitation  of  the  Japanese  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  Korea  to  give  talks  un- 
der its  auspices  to  railroad  men,  he  went  the  length  of 
the  peninsula  from  Fusan  to  New  Wiju  with  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Kingdom.  Meeting  with  old  and  new 
friends  among  the  Christians,  with  military  men  whom 
he  had  known  in  Sendai,  and  with  officials  with  whom 
he  had  become  acquainted  on  his  Manchurian  trip,  he 
had  unusual  opportunities  for  learning  the  political 
situation  from  the  Japanese  point  of  view,  in  addition 
to  the  missionary  point  of  view,  where  these  differed. 
He  was  particularly  desirous  of  seeing  the  effect  upon 
Christian  work  of  the  new  political  environment  intro- 
duced by  the  protectorate  and  continued  under  the  an- 


FROM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL     289 

nexation.  In  educational,  financial,  industrial,  and 
sanitary  reforms  conducted  by  the  Japanese  adminis- 
tration in  Korea,  he  saw  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of 
civic  and  social  righteousness  in  that  peninsula,  mak- 
ing the  crooked  straight  and  the  rough  places  plain  for 
the  oncoming  Kingdom  of  God. 

He  was  struck  with  differences  in  the  moral  history 
and  development  of  the  two  races  dwelling  side  by  side 
there.  Much  of  the  weakness  and  corruption  that  had 
brought  Korea  to  her  present  state  of  dependence 
seemed  to  him  clearly  explained  by  the  absence  of  na- 
tional moral  leaders  during  the  five  hundred  years  of 
the  last  dynasty.  This  thought  is  best  summarized  in  a 
few  sentences  from  "  The  Moral  Purpose  of  Japan  in 
Korea,"  in  the  Independent : 

"  There  are  certain  lines  of  morality  in  which  Japa- 
nese are  defective,  but  they  are  strong  in  other  lines, 
especially  in  what  we  may  call  public  morality,  as  con- 
trasted with  private.  .  .  .  Westerners  often  wonder 
at  the  unusual  power  of  the  Japanese  to  make  such 
rapid  progress  as  they  have  done  during  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  mistakenly  think  it  is  because  of  her  imita- 
tive and  adaptive  powers.  The  only  fact  that  really  ex- 
plains her  phenomenal  progress  is  the  width  and  depth 
of  her  public  morality  during  hundreds  of  years.  This 
basis  of  national  life  was  developed  by  men  of  splendid 
moral  powers,  who  themselves  lived  as  they  taught, 
and  who  cared  for  men  more  than  for  things.  .  .  . 
Unfortunately,  there  has  been  in  Korea  no  [such]  line 
of  moral  prophets,  and  therefore  no  moral  ideals  to  in- 
spire the  upper  classes  to  do  unselfish  things  for  the 
state  and  for  the  public  good.  They  have  produced  no 
moral  literature  for  the  uplifting  of  the  people.     .     .    . 


290  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOEEST 

One  [Japanese]  general  said  to  me,  '  They  have  the 
same  Chinese  classics  that  we  have,  the  same  fine  Con- 
fucian ethics  ;  and  many  Koreans  are  men  of  high 
moral  character  on  narrow  personal  lines,  such  as  per- 
tain to  the  permanency  of  the  family :  but  political 
ethics,  which  we  have  always  emphasized,  they  have 
overlooked,  as  far  as  practice  goes.'  "  He  became  con- 
vinced as  never  before  that  in  God's  providence  Japan 
had  a  great  mission  to  this  weak  sister  nation. 

That  the  work  of  Christian  missionaries  in  Korea 
had  been  a  helpful  preparatory  step  to  Japan's  mission, 
he  believed,  according  to  the  following  statement  that 
he  repeatedly  heard  in  Korea :  "  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  large  bodies  of  order-loving  Christians  in  the  large 
cities,  the  excitement  and  hatred  against  Japanese  at 
certain  critical  times  would  have  broken  out  into  un- 
controllable riots  that  would  have  made  the  streets  run 
with  the  mingled  blood  of  Japanese  and  Koreans.  But 
the  Christians,  by  refusing  to  countenance  resistance, 
acted  as  a  brake  on  the  unbalanced  crowds,  and  thus 
made  it  vastly  more  easy  to  maintain  order." 

He  did  not  blind  himself  to  the  friction  and  disturb- 
ances to  mission  work  that  had  followed  upon  the 
Japanese  occupation  of  Korea.  But  he  knew  from  his 
long  acquaintance  with  Japan  and  from  his  study  of 
mission  history  in  the  Orient  that  this  friction  was  not 
due  to  governmental  opposition  to  Christianity — rather 
to  the  readjustment  and  misunderstandings  inevitable 
in  the  process  of  transition  from  the  extraterritorial 
methods  of  early  Korean  missions  to  the  methods  nec- 
essary under  the  new  regime :  a  process  further  com- 
plicated by  difference  of  language  and  customs.  He 
wondered  rather  that  the  disturbance  to  Christian  work 


LAST    PHOTOGRAPH    OF    J.    H.     DE   FOREST 
Taken    in    Korea,    1910,    at    the    age    of    66 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    291 

had  not  been  greater.  "  It  is  because  the  missionary 
body  is  so  splendidly  Christian  in  its  character,  and  be- 
cause the  government  is  so  sincere  in  its  purpose  to  be 
true  to  the  principle  of  religious  liberty,  that  this  mis- 
sionary problem  has  not  flared  up  into  international 
proportions." 

On  returning  to  Sendai  from  Korea  in  November, 
1910,  he  started  to  make  the  belated  autumn  rounds  of 
his  evangelistic  parish.  But  the  fatigue  and  excite- 
ment of  the  trip,  and  its  incessant  addresses,  interviews, 
and  writing,  had  told  on  him  more  than  he  knew.  A 
short  trip  to  Fukushima,  involving  three  addresses 
within  twenty-four  hours,  brought  on  an  attack  of 
heart  trouble  that  necessitated  giving  up,  for  the  time 
being,  other  plans  for  touring.  He  spent  the  next  few 
weeks  at  home,  leisurely  doing  his  "  odd  jobs  " — closing 
the  annual  station  accounts,  writing  his  year's  summary 
for  the  Independent,  and  putting  his  papers  and  scrap- 
books  in  order.  "  I'm  bowled  out  of  the  game  for  a 
week  or  two,"  he  cheerily  wrote  to  the  Board,  "  after 
one  of  the  most  interesting  times  of  my  life — in  Korea. 
A  bit  of  rheumatism  has  butted  into  my  chest,  but  I'll 
butt  him  out  before  long." 

This  optimism,  however,  did  not  justify  itself :  the 
arterial  sclerosis  that  had  been  insidiously  creeping  on 
him  for  some  years  now  proclaimed  itself  an  open 
enemy ;  and  a  more  violent  attack  of  heart  trouble 
three  days  before  Christmas  confined  him  to  his  bed. 

His  five  months  of  invalidism  were  rich  with  the 
tokens  of  love  and  sympathy  from  two  hemispheres. 
To  him,  as  perhaps  to  few,  was  given  the  sweetness  of 
human  appreciation  to  enjoy  while  yet  he  had  ears  to 


292  JOHN  HYDE  DeFOKEST 

hear  and  a  heart  to  feel  it.  Forbidden  though  he  was 
to  take  part  in  mission  business  or  any  worrisome  affairs, 
his  heart  and  thoughts  still  went  out  incessantly  to  the 
work  he  loved  so  well.  He  rejoiced  in  the  formation 
of  the  American  Peace  Society  of  Japan,  whose  inau- 
guration he  was  thus  prevented  from  attending.  His 
thoughts  were  of  the  coming  Kingdom,  of  love,  joy? 
and  peace  to  all  men  in  the  growing  realization  of  their 
brotherhood  through  the  one  Father  and  the  universal 
Saviour.  He  saw  few  friends,  but  with  those  he  saw 
he  left  an  imprint  of  good  cheer  in  spite  of  the  phys- 
ical weakness  that  galled  his  active  mind.  The  tender 
care  and  companionship  of  my  mother  was  his  perpetual 
benediction ;  while  a  diversion  daily  anticipated  was 
afforded  by  a  jovial  chat  with  his  friend  and  physician, 
Dr.  A.  S.  Yamamoto. 

The  seeming  convalescence  ended  in  April,  1911,  in 
a  relapse.  He  was  removed  from  his  home  in  Sendai 
to  St.  Luke's  Hospital  in  Tokyo.  But  the  disease  only 
hastened  its  course :  pneumonia  set  in,  followed  by 
days  of  unconsciousness,  until  on  May  8th,  at  eventide, 
the  spirit  slipped  away  into  the  light. 

In  accordance  with  his  own  wish  of  many  years,  the 
remains  were  cremated.  The  funeral  took  place  in 
Sendai  on  May  11th  in  the  large  Presbyterian  church, 
the  Kumiai  building  being  too  small  for  the  occasion. 
He  had  expressed  the  desire  that  Dr.  Schneder  should 
preach  his  funeral  sermon  ;  and  this  friend,  in  selecting 
as  text,  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory," 
fulfilled  another  expressed  desire  that  the  tone  of  the 
occasion  should  be  one,  not  of  mourning,  but  of  courage 
and  triumph. 

At  sunset  the  ashes  were  laid  away  in  the  little  for- 


FEOM  NATIONAL  TO  INTERNATIONAL    293 

eign  cemetery  adjoining  the  Japanese  Christian  burial 
ground  on  a  hillside  on  the  edge  of  the  city.  Around 
his  monument  stand  trees  that  are  the  memorial  offer- 
ing of  many  a  loving  heart  in  different  parts  of  Japan ; 
while  at  the  gate  of  the  cemetery  the  Oriental  Peace 
Society  has  placed  its  cedar  sentinels  in  his  honour. 
The  view  looks  out  on  one  side  upon  the  mountains 
where  he  loved  to  tramp,  on  the  other  upon  the  broad 
Pacific  over  which  his  thought  had  so  often  flown  in 
the  yearning  to  bridge  the  greater  chasm  of  misunder- 
standing between  the  hemispheres. 

"  When  you  have  got  a  permanent  brotherhood 
treaty  sealed  forever  between  Japan  and  the  U.  S.  A.," 
his  American  pastor  had  written  him,  "  then  we  will 
let  you  die  and  have  a  rest ;  but  not  till  then, — remem- 
ber, not  till  then."  But  in  that  ever-expanding  life  of 
activity  to  which  he  looked  forward,  who  can  say  but 
that  he  is  even  now  doing  a  brotherhood  work  in  some 
other  of  God's  worlds,  or  perchance,  with  some  new 
gift  that  may  await  God's  workmen  in  the  world  be- 
yond, upholding  the  hands  of  his  fellow- workers  in  this 
one? 


Appendix 


Chronological  Tables 

I.    Life  of  J.  H.  DeForest. 
II.    Contemporaneous  Events  in  Japan. 

Principal  English  Writings  of  J.  H.  DeForest 
Map  of  Japan 


Chronological  Tables 


I.    Life  of  J.  H.  Deforest 

1844,  June  25th— Birth  at  Westbrook,  Conn. 

1854 — Removal  to  Greenwich,  Conn. 

1860-1861— Teacher  at  Bozrahville,  Conn. 

1861-1862— Student  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Mass. 

1862-1863— Soldier  in  28th  Connecticut  Volunteers. 

1863-1864— Teacher  at  Irvington,  N.  Y. 

1864-1868— Student  at  Yale  College. 

1868-1871— Student  at  Yale  Divinity  School. 

1871 — Ordination.     Marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  C.  Conklin. 

1871-1874 — Pastor  at  Mount  Carmel,  Conn. 

1872— Death  of  Mrs.  DeForest. 

1873-1874— Revival  at  Mount  Carmel.     Call  to  the  foreign  field. 
1874 — Marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth  Starr. 
1874-1911 — Missionary  in  Japan. 

1874 — Location  at  Osaka. 

1882 — Breakdown  and  furlough. 

1883— Return  to  Osaka. 

1886— Removal  to  Sendai.     Opening  of  the  Tokwa  School. 

1889 — Degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  received  from  Yale  University. 

1890 — Six  months'  trip  to  America. 

1892— Close  of  Tokwa  School. 

1894-1895— Second  furlough. 

1903— Six  months'  trip  to  the  United  States.     Writing  of  "Sun- 
rise in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom." 

1905 — Manchurian  tour. 

1905-1906— Famine  relief  work. 

1907-1908— Third  furlough.     Campaign  on  behalf  of  American 
friendship  with  Japan. 

1908— Decoration  of  the  Fourth  Order  of  the  Rising  Sun  received. 

1909 — Summer  in  China. 

1910 — Korean  tour. 

1911,  May  8th— Death. 

297 


298  ,  CHEONOLOGICAL  TABLES 

II.    Contemporaneous  Events  in  Japan 

1854 — Opening  of  Japan  by  Commodore  Perry. 

1859 — Beginning  of  Protestant  mission  work. 

1864 — First  Protestant  baptism. 

1868 — Abolition  of  Shogunate.     Beginning  of  Meiji  Era. 

1869 — Opening  of  American  Board  Mission  in  Japan. 

1872 — Iwakura  Embassy  to  the  West. 

1873 — Withdrawal  of  prohibition  of  Christianity. 

1874 — Organization  of  first  church  connected  with  American  Board 

Mission. 
1876— Sunday    declared    an    official  holiday.     Samurai  deprived  of 

privilege  of  carrying  swords. 
1877 — Satsuma  Rebellion.     Ordination  of  first  native  pastor  connected 

with  American  Board  Mission.     Beginning  of  discussion  on 

self-support. 
1880 — Publication  of  New  Testament  in  Japanese. 
1884 — Abolition  of  state  priesthood. 
1886 — Name  Kumiai  formally  adopted  by  Japanese  churches  connected 

with  American  Board  Mission. 
1888— Publication  of  Old  Testament  in  Japanese. 
1889 — Promulgation  of  national  Constitution. 
1890 — Issue  of  Imperial  Rescript  on  Education. 
1894 — War  with  China.     Revision  of  treaties  with  the  West. 
1895 — Independence  of  Kumiai  Home  Missionary  Society  from  mission 

aid. 
1899— Operation  of  revised  treaties.     "  Mixed  residence." 
1900 — Japanese  co6peration  with  Western  powers  in  relief  of  Peking. 
1902— Anglo- Japanese  alliance,  renewed  1905  and  1911. 
1904-1905— War  with  Russia. 

1906 — New  basis  of  cooperation  between  Kumiai  churches  and  Amer- 
ican Board  Mission. 
1907 — Protectorate  established  in  Korea. 

1908— Mutual  declaration  of  policy  between  United  States  and  Japan. 
1910 — Annexation  of  Korea. 


Principal  English  Writings  of  J.  H.  DeForest 

For  the  American  Association  for  International  Conciliation: 

"  American  Ignorance  of  Oriental  Languages  "  (Feb.,  1909). 
"Extraterritoriality  in  China  "  (Oct.,  1910). 

For  the  American  Peace  Society : 

"  Is  Japan  a  Menace  to  the  United  States  ?  »  (1908). 

11  The  Conditions  of  Peace  Between  the  East  and  the  West  "  (1908). 
"American  Misunderstandings  of  Japan"  (1907;  privately  printed 
and  sent  to  principal  libraries  in  the  United  States). 

For  the  Independent : 

Annual  Surveys  of  Japan,  with  few  exceptions  from  1889  to  1910. 
Russo-Japanese  War  Correspondence,  1904-1905. 

For  the  Monday  Club  Series  : 

Three  Sermons  on  Sunday  School  Lessons  in  the  1910  and  1911 
volumes. 

For  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement : 

"The  Broad  Culture  Demanded  of  Missionaries"  (in  The  Call, 

Qualifications,  and  Preparation  of  Missionary  Candidates). 
"  Shintoism  "  (in  Religions  of  Mission  Fields). 

For  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  : 

"  Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom."     (Text-book  on  Japan  in  the 

Forward  Mission  Study  Series.) 
Sketch  of  the  Japan   Mission   of   the  American   Board,  1869-1904. 

(American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 

Boston.) 

"Ethics  of  Confucius  as  Seen  in  Japan,  The,"  in  The  Andover  Review, 
Vol.  XIX,  p.  309  sqq.  ;  reprinted  later  in  pamphlet  form  by 
the  Methodist  Publishing  House,  Tokyo. 


299 


Si 


1 


JAPAN  AND  KOREA 


Index 


Index 


Adams,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  A.  H.,  31 
Advocate  of  Peace ',  The,  2yj 
Aizu,  216 
Allchin,   Rev.    George,    120,    153, 

158 
American  Association  for  Interna- 
tional Conciliation,  279,  287 
American    Board,  annual  meeting 

at  Manchester,  N.  H.,  250 

mission  in  Japan :  annual  meet- 
ings, 214,  229,  286 
beginnings,  37 
policy  for  individual  mem- 
bers,   190;    (see    also 
Cooperation) 
mission  in  North  China,  287 
"  American  Ignorance  of  Oriental 

Languages,"  279 
"  American    Misunderstandings  of 

Japan,"  275 
American  Peace  Society,  277 
American   Peace   Society  of  Japan, 

279,  292 
"  American  Spirit,  The,"  269 
American  sympathy  with  Japan  in 

Russian  War,  267-268 
Amherst  College,  19 
Ancestor  worship,  247,  248-249 
Annaka,  118-119 
Anti-foreign  agitation  in  Japan,  78- 

80 
Anti-foreign  period,  159,  176-182, 

187,  235 
Anti- Japanese  feeling  in  U.  S.,  274- 

277  ;  influence  on  mission  work, 

283 
Apologetic  age  for  Christianity  in 

Japan,  83 
Apologetic   preaching,    84-86,    91, 

93-94,  95»  96-98,  259 
Arima,  51,  57 
Army,    Japanese,    in    Manchuria, 

270-273 


Asakusa  Temple,  36 
Asama,  Mt.,  220 
Atkinson,  Rev.  J.  L.,  131 
"  Aunt  White,"  18,  21 

Baikwa  Girls'  School,  63,  160, 

162 
Ballagh,  Rev.  J.  H.,  36 
Barrancas,  Fla.,  19 
Barrows-Haskell   lectureship,   166, 

264 
«  Basis  of  Society,  The,"  124 
Bible  teaching,  54,  58,  72,  75,  167- 

168,  181 
Biblical     criticism,     influence     on 

theory  of  inspiration,  227-228 ; 

on  missionary  attitude,  230-231, 

237-238  ;  on  missionary  method, 

232-233,  242-244 
Bird  (Bishop),  Isabella,  77 
Biwa  Lake,  78,  119 
Bowne,  Borden  P.,  166 
Bozrahville,  Conn.,  18 
"  Bridges,"  175 
Brotherhood,    175,   203,  224,   266, 

268,  276,  293 
Bryan,  William  Jennings,  166 
Buck,  Col.  A.  E.,  262 
Buddhism,  changes  in,  80-82,  246- 

25J 

growing  friendliness  to  Chris- 
tianity, 245-246 
influence   in  Japan,  1 27-128, 
218,237-238,244,245;  (see 
also  Shaka) 
Buddhist  opposition  to  Christianity, 

76-79 
Buddhist  priest,  conversion  of,  196 
Buddhist  priesthood,  82 
Buddhist    priests,   talks   with,  48, 

127-128,  247 
Buddhist  schools,  80-81,  245,  251 
Buddhists,  how  to  meet.  133 


303 


304 


IKDEX 


Buddhist  temple,  church  begun  in, 

154;  lecture  in,  246 
Burial  rites,  10 1 

Cabinet-maker,  incident  of,  208- 
209 

Cady,  Rev.  C.  M.,  143 

China,  241,  273,  287 

Chinese  ideographs,  123 

Cholera,  43,  81,  152 

Christ,  missionary  confused  with, 
214 

Christian  Herald,  The,  205 

Christianity  in  Japan,  era  of  popu- 
larity, 76,  127 

naturalization  of,  284,  288 
"  unassimilatable  element "  in, 
263 

Christianity,  reasonableness  of, 
140-141 

"  Christianity,  the  unreasonable- 
ness of,"  78 

Christianization    of    Japan,    condi- 
tions antagonistic  to,  197-198 
conditions  favourable  to,  198, 

287 
early  expectation  of,  67 
historic  preparation  for,  237- 

238,  240,  284 
ultimate,  283-284 

Christian  literature  in  Japan,  59, 
75»  l37  >  (see  a^s0  Literary 
Work,  under  DeForest) 

Clark,  Rev.  F.  E.,  164,  262 

Clark,  Rev.  N.  G.,  31,  III 

Commercial  commissioners  from 
Pacific  Coast,  279 

Confucius,  239 ;  ethics  of,  84-86, 
124-125  ;  Golden  Rule  of,  170 

Congregationalist,  The,  275 

Conklin,  Sarah  C,  25-26 

Constitution  of  Japan,  promulga- 
tion of,  167,  175 

Cooperation  between  Japanese 
churches  and  American  Board 
mission,  176-179,  285-286 

Cos  Cob,  16 

Cows,  Japanese,  39 

Cremation,  167,  292 

Current  events,  used  by  mission- 
ary, 195 


Curtis,  Rev.  W.  W.,  102,  I53,  154 

Date,  crest  of  the  house  of,  266 ; 

mausoleum,  149 
Date  Masamune,  149 
DeForest,  J.  K.  H.,  acclimatization 
in  Japan,  49-52 

appointment  as  missionary  to 

Japan,  30 
army  life,  19,  24 
attitude    towards  other  Chris- 
tian  workers,  92,  113- 114, 
1 16,  192,  202,  233-237 
attitude    towards  union,  203- 

204 
birth,  16 
breakdown,  III 
change    of    attitude    towards 
Japanese,  125-126 

towards   native  religions, 
237-238 
change  of  name,  23 
childhood  and  youth,  16-26 
children,   65,    126,    152,    188, 

212-213,  241 
Chinese  ideographs,  study  of, 

123 
conversion,  18,  19,  24,  214 
co-workers,  helped  by,  195 
influence  on,  201,  202 
death,  292 

decision  to  be  a  minister,  19, 
24,  25 

missionary,  28,  30 
decoration,  280-281 
diary,  127,  130-134,  ^S"^6* 

*95 

doctorate  of  divinity,  21 1-2 1 2 
education,  16,  18,  20-22 
friendships,      198-201,     210- 

211 
furloughs,  ill,  187,  273-279 
intellectual    awakening,    134- 

136 

Japanese  characteristics,  early 
estimate  of,  46-49 

later    estimate    of,     197— 
198,  267,  271,  289 
Japanese   language,  study  of, 

52-57,  121-123 
letters,  chief  extracts  from,  24- 


INDEX 


305 


25,   26-29,  35-37,  46-49. 
52-59>  67,  71-75,  136-143* 

212,  214-224,  244-247 

literary    work,    59,    75,     1 19 

(note),  209-210 
marriage,  to  Miss  Conklin,  25- 

26 

to  Miss  Starr,  31 
methods  of  work,  190- 194 
missionary  calling,  conception 

of,  213 
missionary  motive,  29,  30,  46, 

134,  238 
mountain    tramping,    27,    51, 

293 

ordination,  25 
Osaka,  settling  in,  37 
pastorate    in    Mount    Carmel, 

25-30 
question    of  return    to  Japan, 

187-188 
school-teaching,  in  Conn.,  15 
in  Irvington,  N.  Y.,  20 
in  Sendai,  15 1—  1 55,  174- 
175,  181-183 
sectarianism,  attitude  towards, 

Sendai,    preliminary    mission 

to,  147-15 ' 

settling  in,  152-153 
servants,  treatment  of,  199 
skepticism,  struggle  with,  27 
subjects   of  lectures   and    ser- 
mons,    96-97,     101,     129- 
l32>    x73»    x96.    222,    223, 
231,    233,    241,   246,    259, 
267,  269,  273,  275,  277 
summers,  51,  in 
tracts,  103,  131,  217,  251,  267, 

270 
war  correspondence,  268-273; 
(see  also  Manchuria) 
DeForest  Memorial  Church,  210 
DeForest,   Mrs.  J.   H.,  30,  38,  55, 

120,  188,  215,  224,  292 
Dinner-party,  of  Gov.  Matsudaira, 
148 
of  Famine  Relief  Committee, 
207 
Doshisha,  61,  122,   148,  153,  161, 
165,  182 


Dotombori  theatre  preaching,  83- 
86 

Earthquake  wave,  189 
Ebina,  Rev.  D.,  118,  244 
Education,  as  a  missionary  method, 
156-163 

Imperial  Rescript  on,  168-169 
Ema,  or  votive  pictures,  102 
England,  273-274 
English,   studied    in    Japan,    137, 

13*-139 
motive  for  teaching,  175 
Entente  between  U.  S.  and  Japan, 

266 
Ethics,  Confucian,  85-86,  124-125 

universal,  223 
"  Extraterritoriality  in  China,"  287 
Extraterritoriality  in  Japan,   polit- 
ical, 87-88,  176,  220,  284;    (see 
also  Passports) 
religious,  285-286 

"  False"  Religions,  239 

Family  lines  in  the  East,  248 

Famine  in  North  Japan,  204-207 

Fire  in  Osaka,  42 

Flood,  Osaka,  1 19-121 

France,  273-274 

Friendship    between    U.    S.    and 

Japan,  274,  277,  280 
Fukuoka,  100 
Fukushima,  107,  291 
Fukuzawa,  Y.,  117,  155 

Gaines,  Rev.  M.  R.,  143 
Gambler  and  Christian  preaching, 

86-87 
Golden   Rule,   religious    basis   of, 

170-171 
Gordon,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  M.  L.,  37, 

38,  42,  47,  54,  55,  63,  64,  84 
Greene,  Rev.  D.  C,  35,  178 
Greene,  Mr.  J.  W.,  25 
Greenwich,  Conn.,  16 
Griffis,  Rev.  William  E.,  188,  240 
Gulick,  Rev.  O.  H.s  37,  50,  56 
Gulick,  Rev.  S.  L.,  214 

Hall,  Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert, 
240,  264-265 


306 


IKDEX 


Hamlin,  Rev.  Cyrus,  282 
Hartford  Courant,  The,  276 
Hartford    Theological     Seminary. 

238,  275 
Hase,  103 
"  Heathen,"  239 
Hepburn,  Rev.  J.  C,  35 
Hibachi  meetings,  71-72,  75-76 
Hiei,  Mount,  229 
Hikone,  8o-8i,  99 
Hindrances     to      Christianity     in 

Japan,  197-198,  283 
History,  "  a  people  that  has  a,"  30 
History,  use  of  illustrations  from, 

195-196 
Hobson,  Congressman  R.  P.,  275 
Hokkaido,  214-215,  217 
Homma   Shumpei,   story   of,  251- 

255 
Hoy,  Rev.  W.  E.,  151 
Hyde,  Martha  Sackett,  17  ;  William 

Albert,  16 

Ichihara,  Mr.  M.,  153,  155 
Idolatry,   influence   of,  36-37,  74, 

94,  101-103 
Independence  of  Japanese  churches, 

115,285 
Independent,     The,    27,    209,    220, 

240,  268,  289,  291 
Intellectual    aspect   of    missionary 

work   in   Japan,    137-143*    *73» 

232-233 
International    law    and    missions, 

259,  282-283 
Ise,  96-99,  116 
"  Is  Japan  a  Menace  to  the  United 

States  ?  "  277 
Ives,  Mrs.  George,  27 

Japanese  Characteristics  ;  (see 

DeForest) 
"  Japanese  Criminal  Law,"  220 
"  Japanese     Family,     The,"    217, 

263 
Japanese  Language  School,  279 
Japan  Mail,  The,  156 
Japan  Peace  Society,  279 
Jinrikisha,  40,  41,  73,  199 
Jones,  Rev.  E.  H.,  189 


Jordan,  David  Starr,  166,  262 
Jumonji,  Mayor,  154 

Kajiro,  Rev.  T.,  87-96,  131 
Kajno,  Miss  Yoshi,  162-163 
Kanegasaki,  166 
Karuizawa,  231,  234 
Katagiri,  Rev.  Seiji,  189,  195,  210 
Katsura,  Premier,  269 
King,  Henry  Churchill,  166 
Kishiwada,  128 
Kobe,  37 

Koki,  Rev.  T.,  82,  117 
Korea,  287,  289-291 
Koriyama,  74,  130,  132,  136 
Kuling,  China,  241 
Kumamoto,  160 

Kumiai  ehurches,  Home  Mission- 
ary Society  of,  66,  285 

relations  with  American  Board 
Mission,  176-179,  285-287 
Kyoto ;  (see  Doshisha) 
Kyushu,  260 

Ladd,  Prof.  G.  T.,  164 
Language  an  international  barrier, 

278-280 
Language,     Japanese  ;     (see     De- 
Forest) 
Laymen's    Missionary    Movement, 

166 
Learned,  Rev.  D.  W.,  143 
Leavitt,  Rev.   H.   H.,  56,  58,  62, 

160 
Lectureships  in  Japan,  163-166 
Leper's  wife,  story  of  a,  249 
"  Liberty  of  the  Sons  of  God,  The," 

233-237 
Liberty,   religious,  in  Japan,    10 1, 

119,  167,  175,  267-268 
Lord's  house  and  Lord's  day,  215 
Loyal  Legion,  199,  265 
Lyman,  Dr.  A.  J.,  162 

Manchuria,  269-273 

Marriage    in    Japan,    85-86,   1 19, 

217 
Matsudaira,  Governor,  148,  154 
Matsuzaka,  117,  130 
McArthur,  General,  270 


LXDEX 


307 


McKinley,  President,  262 

Meiji  Gakuin,  Tokyo,  161 

Meyer,  Rev.  F.  B.,  241 

Miller,  Mr.  R.  S.,  269,  274 

Mino,  51,  82 

Miracles,  Japanese  attitude  towards, 

141,  218 
Missionary  Herald,  The,  124  (note), 

209,  215 
Missionary  motive  ;  (see  DeForest) 
Missionary   opportunity    in   Japan, 

142-143,  188,  284 
Missionary   Review   of  the  World, 

The,  270 
Mission  work,  broad    relations  of, 

282-285,  287,  288-291 
"  Mixed  Residence,"  259-260 
Miyagawa,  Rev.  T.,  84 
Mizusawa,  193-194,  214 
"  Modern    Civilization    and    Chris- 
tianity," 261 
Moody,  Dwight  L.,  129,  158,  239 
Morality  vs.  religion,  168-17 1 
-  Moral  Purpose  of  Japan  in  Korea, 

The,"  289-290 
Mott,  John  R.,  166 
Mount  Carmel,  Conn.,  25-30,  59 
Mozoomdar,  Protap  Chunder,  112, 

129 

Nakae  Toju,  238 
Nakai  the  Bible-seller,  103-106 
Naruse,  President  J.,  86 
Neesima,   Joseph    Hardy,    31,   54, 

84,   118,  131,  147,  148,  150,  154, 

181 
Niigata,  116,  160,  167 
Nishi,  General,  269,  270 
Novels,  Japanese,  222-223 

O'Brien,    U.    S.   Ambassador    to 

Japan,  266 
Okayama,  74,  162-163 
"  Open   Letter  to    Hobson,"   276- 

277 
Open-mindedness  of  Japanese,  1 28, 

267 
Osaka,  American   Board  station  at, 

37 
evangelistic  campaign  in,  287- 
288 


foreign   concession  in,  37-38, 
50,  87,  120 
Osaka  Church,  37,  63-67 
Oshikawa,  Rev.  M.,  1 50-15 1 
Outlook  and  Evangelistic  Commit- 
tee, 190 
Overcoat  etiquette,  219 

Pantheism,  174,  246 
Park,  sermon  by  Prof.,  19 
Parliament  of  religions  in  Japan, 

245 
Passports,  74,  87,  179 
Pastorate  of  early  Japanese  Church, 

61,  63,  190 
"  Patriotism,    The    Evolution    of," 

222 
Personal  work,   51-52,  58,   71-73, 

95,  98-99,  131-132,  196,  217 
Peter    Parley's  Universal   History, 

l37 
Pettus,  Mrs.  W.  B.,  241 
Pharisaism,  missionary,  60 
Phillips  Academy,  18 
Phinney,  H.  F.,  20-23 
Prison,  Sendai,  219-220 
Prisoners,  work  for,  168,  222 

Questions   met   by  a   missionary, 
98,  133.  IQ5>  221 

Red  Cross  Society,  198,  265 
Religious  Herald,  The,  209 
Resurrection,  study  of,  172-174 

how  regarded  by  Japanese,  218 
Revivals :    at   Mount  Carmel,   28 ; 

in  Japan,  129 
Romaji  Kivai,  136 
Roosevelt,  President,  266 
Rutland,  Vt.,  31 


Sakai,  59,  131 

Sakata,  221-222 

Sakura  Sogoro,  196 

Salvation  Army,  166 

Samurai,  40,  43-44,  82,  200,  205 

Sanda,  56 

Satsuma  Rebellion,  43 

Sawayama,  Rev.  Paul,  62,  65,  84 

Scenery  of  Japan,  41,  191-192 


308 


INDEX 


Schneder,  Rev.  D.  B.,  2X1,  261, 
266,  292 

Schoolhouses,  addresses  in,  221 

Scudder,  Rev.  Doremus,  143 

Sell-support  in  Japanese  churches, 
62-66,  193-194 

Sendai  Kumiai  Church,  154,  210 

Sendai  Orphanage,  207 

Sendai,  missionary  unity  in,  1 80, 
204-206,  261 

opening   of    American   Board 

work  in,  148-154 
pronunciation  of,  152 
social   developments   in,  261- 
266 

Servants,  38,  200 

Shaka,  78,  96-97,  127,  17 1 

Shinto  opposition  to  Christianity,  82 

Shintoism  preparatory  to  Christian- 
ity, 240,  247 

disclaiming   to   be  a  religion, 
250,  263 

Smith  College,  247 

Social  side  of  missionary  life,  208, 
261-266 

Soldiers,    Christian    work    for,    in 
Manchuria,  269-270 
in  Sendai,  167-168,  199,  265- 
266 

St.  Luke's  Hospital,  Tokyo,  292 

Starr,  Sarah  Elizabeth ;  (see  De- 
Forest,  Mrs.  J.  H.) 

State  priesthood,  abolition  of,  10 1, 
119 

Strong,  Rev.  E.  E.,  209 

Students,  Christian  work  for,  168, 
171-172,  174,  245-246;  (see 
also  Education) 

Suicide  of  Date's  retainers,  149 

Sunday  declared  an  official  holi- 
day, 44-46 

"  Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom," 
240-241 

Sun-worship,  98 

"  Supplementary  Methods  "  of  mis- 
sion work,  159-165 

Sword,  edict  in  reference  to,  43- 

44 

feeling  of  samurai  for,  200 

Taft,  President,  266 


Takashima,  General,  120 

Tateno,  Governor,  120 

Teachers'  Movement  in  Japan,  156- 

*59 

Temma  Church,  131 

Temptations    of    new    missionary, 

58-61 
Ten   Commandments,  sermons  on, 

74,  101-107 
Terauchi,  Viscount,  269 
Text-book  scandal,  196 
Theatre  preaching,  83-97,  167 
Tokwa  School,  chapel  talks  in,  174- 

closing  of,  1 8 1- 1 83 
founding  of,  148-154 
meaning  of  name,  155 
Tokyo,    glimpses   of,    36-37,    1 78, 

274 
Tomita,  Mr.  T.,  147,  150,  151,  154 
Tottori,  87-96,  131,  216 
Touring,    evangelistic,    in    Japan, 

86-99,    103-106,   189-195,  214- 

218,  221-222,  223-224 
Toyama,  Prof.,  156,  159 
Treaty  revision,  176,  187,  259-260 
Trial  in  Sendai  court,  218-219 
"  Truth  About  Japan,  The,"  277 
Tsu,  117,  131 
Twentieth  Century  Club,  277 

Union  Movements  in  Japan,  113— 

115,  203-204 
"  Universal  Religion,"  263 
University,  Imperial,  of  Tokyo,  36, 

232 
Utsumi,  Baron,  128 

Votive  Pictures,  102 

Wakamatsu,  166 
Wakuya,  189 

"  War  and  Religion,"  269 
War,  with  China,  187 

with  Russia,  265,  267-273 
Wells,  Prof.  A.  R.,  240 
Westbrook,  Conn.,  16 
White,  Rev.  F.  N.,  153 
Williamson's  "  Natural  Theology  * 
in  Japanese,  59 


INDEX  309 

Wishard,  Mr.  L.  D.,  157,  164  Yale  College,  20-25,  51,  67,  135 
Woman,  position   of,  in  Japan,  85,  136-143,211-212 

119,  123-124  Yamaguchi,  253 

World's     Missionary     Conference,  Yamamoto,  Dr.  A.  S.,  292 

Edinburgh,  197  Y.    M.   C.   A.,    114-115,   269-270, 
World's   Student   Christian   Feder-  275,  288 

ation,  166  Young   People's  Missionary  Move- 
Wright,  Prof.  G.  F.,  166  ment,  240 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


HOME  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

ROLAND  ALLEN,  M.  A. 

Essential  Missionary  Principles 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

An  author  new  to  American  readers  has  claimed  attention 
of  students  of  missions  through  his  recent  thought-compelling 
book,  Missionary  Methods — St.  Paul's  or  Ours?  This  latter 
volume  dealing  with  the  principles  of  missions  well  supple- 
menting the  volume  on  methods. 

ROLAND  ALLEN,   M.A.        Library  of  Historic  Theology 

Missionary  Methods  :  St.  Paul's  or  Ours  ? 

With  Introduction  by  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Whitehead, 
D.D.,  Lord  Bishop  of  Madras.    8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

Is  this  book  the  true  answer  to  the  question  as  to  why 
Christian  Missions  do  not  progress  to-day  as  rapidly  as  we 
should  like  to  see  them  doing?  Dr.  Allen  was  formerly  a 
missionary  in  North  China  and  author  of  "The  Siege  of 
Peking  Legations"  and  writes  from  large  experience.  His 
arguments  for  the  application  of  truly  Pauline  methods  of 
envangelization  in  foreign  mission  fields  are  startling.  The 
reader  may  not  agree  with  all  of  his  criticisms  and  sugges- 
tions but  the  discussion  which  will  be  aroused  cannot  fail  to 
be  helpful.  It  is  a  vigorous  presentation  of  a  profoundly 
important  subject. 

MISS  MINNA  G.  COWAN 

The  Education  of  the  Women  of  India 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  subject  is  treated  historically,  philosophically  and 
suggestively.  The  contributions  made  by  the  government, 
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the  educational  problems  of  the  country  are  clearly  shown. 
The  book  is  an  important  and  suggestive  addition  to  the 
literature  of  education  in  foreign  lands,  being  a  worthy 
companion  volume  to  Miss  Burton's  "The  Education  of 
Women  in  China." 

LIVINGSTON  F.  JONES 

A  Study  of  the  Thlingets  of  Alaska 

i2mo,  cloth,  illustrated,  net  $1.50. 

For  twenty-one  years  the  author  has  labored  as  a  mission- 
ary representing  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions 
among  the  people  about  which  he  writes.  Probably  no  living 
man  is  better  qualified  to  tell  about  this  interesting  race. 
Hon.  James  Wickersham  says:  "Contains  much  that  is  new 
and  valuable  in  respect  to  the  social  life  and  ancient  cus- 
toms of  the  Thlinget  Indians.  An  interesting  and  valuable 
contribution  to   the   ethnology  of  the   Pacific   Coast." 


BIOGRAPHY 

CHARLES  G.  TRUMBULL 

Anthony  Comstock,  Fighter 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

An  authorized  biography  of  this  great  fighter  for  purity. 
The  story  is  one  of  life-and-death  adventure,  moral  and 
physical  heroism,  and  incomparable  achievement.  During 
the  thirty  years  in  which  Mr.  Comstock  has  been  working  for 
the  suppression  of  vice  he  has  destroyed  over  43  tons  of  vile 
books,  28,425  pounds  of  stereotype  plates,  two  and  a  half 
million  obscene  pictures  and  12,945  negatives.  The  detailed 
account  of  how  all  this  was  done  is  a  most  thrilling  and  re- 
markable   story. 

FRANK  J.  CANNON— DR.  GEORGE  L.   KNAPP 

Brigham  Young  and  His  Mormon  Empire 

Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

Ex-Senator  Cannon's  personal  acquaintance  with  this  apostle 
of  the  Mormon  Church  and  his  knowledge  of  the  religion 
and  the  people  gained  by  having  been  born  and  brought  up 
in  the  heart  of  Mormondom,  give  more  than  usual  authority 
and  interest  to  this  biography.  Ihis  life  story  of  the  man 
who  founded  a  Mohammedan  kingdom  in  a  puritan  republic 
sets  forth  in  true  perspective,  in  impartial  and  unbiased 
manner,  the  facts  about  one  of  the  most  romantic  and  in- 
teresting characters  in  American  history. 

FRANCES   WILLARD 

Frances  Willard  I    Her  Life  and  Her  Work 

By  Ray  Strachey.  With  an  Introduction  by  Lady 
Henry  Somerset.    Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

A  notable  new  life  of  the  great  temperance  advocate  writ- 
ten by  an  English  woman  from  an  entirely  new  standpoint. 
Mrs.  Strachey,  the  granddaughter  of  the  author  of  "A 
Christian's  Secret  of  a  Happy  Life,"  had  immediate  access 
to  Miss  Willard's  letters,  journals  and  papers,  and  the  bene- 
fit of  her  grandmother's  advice  and  knowledge. 

Israel  Zangwill  says  of  the  book,  "A  masterpiece  of  con- 
densation, an  adequate  biography  of  perhaps  the  greatest 
woman  America  has  produced.  Nobody  can  read  this  book 
without  becoming  braver,  better,  wiser. 

MRS.  S.  MOORE  SITES 

Nathan  Sites : 

Introduction  by  Bishop  W.  F.  McDowell.  Oriental 
Hand- Painted  Illustrations,  gilt  top,  net  $1.50. 

This  is  one  of  the  notable  books  of  the  year.  China  looms 
large  in  current  political  and  religious  interest,  so  that  this 
life  story  of  one  who  for  nearly  half  a  century  has  been 
closely  identified  with  social  and  religious  reform  in  that 
country  must  have  a  large  place  in  current  literaturs. 


BIOGRAPHY— MISSIONARY 


JOHN  T.  FARIS         Author  of"  Men  Who  Made  Good" 

The  Alaskan  Pathfinder 

The  Story  of  Sheldon  Jackson  for  Boys.  Illus- 
trated, i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

The  story  of  Sheldon  Jackson  will  appeal  irresistibly  to 
every  boy.  Action  from  the  time  he  was,  as  an  infant, 
rescued  from  a  fire  to  his  years'  of  strenuous  rides  through 
the  Rockies  and  his  long  years'  of  service  in  Alaska,  per- 
meate every  page  of  the  book.  Mr.  Faris,  with  a  sure  hand, 
tells  the  story  of  this  apostle  of  the  Western  Indians  in  clear- 
cut,  incisive  chapters  which  will  hold  the  boy's  attention 
from   first  to   last. 

G.    L.    WHARTON 

Life  of  G.  L.  Wharton 

By  Mrs.  Emma  Richardson  Wharton.  Illustrated, 
i2mo,  gilt  top,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

A  biography  of  a  pioneer  missionary  of  the  F.  C.  M.  S., 
written  by  a  devoted  wife  who  shared  the  experiences  of 
her  husband  in  a  long  service  in  India  and  Australia.  It  is 
a  life  of  unusual  interest  and  an  important  addition  to  the 
annals  of  modern  missionary  effort. 

MRS.  LAURA  DELANY  GARST 

A  West  Pointer  in  the  Land  of  the 
Mikado 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  story  of  a  great  life  given  unreservedly  to  the  service 
of  God  in  Japan — a  life  story  representative  of  the  best  the 
West  sends  the  East  and  typical  of  that  missionary  spirit  in 
America  which  is  one  of  the  marvelous  things  in  the  growth 
of  the  Christ  life  in  man.  The  Christian  world  will  be  proud 
of  and  wish  to  study  such  a#  record — coming  generations 
will  find  here  inspiration  and  incentive  for  yet  greater  ef- 
fort and  larger  sacrifice. 

HENRY   OTIS  PLIGHT 

A  Muslim  Sir  Galahad 

A  Present  Day  Story  of  Islam  In  Turkey.  Net  $1.00. 

"The  author  of  'Constantinople  and  Its  Problems,'  has 
written  an  intensely  interesting  story  of  present-day  Turkish 
life.  A  fascinating  picture  of  the  Mohammedan  world. 
Recent  events  in  the  Near  East  make  this  book  of  unusnal 
interest,  and  a  better  book,  throwing  sidelights  on  the  Mo- 
hammedan question,  could  not  be  found."-~Pact7ic  Presby- 
terian. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


M.  JVILMA  STUBBS 

How  Europe  Was  Won  for  Christianity 

Illustrated.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

The  story  of  the  first  seventeen  centuries  of  Christianity  is 
here  told  in  the  lives  of  the  great  missionaries  of  the  church 
beginning  with  St.  Paul.  So  far  as  we  are  aware  no  single 
volume  containing  so  complete  a  collection  of  the  lives  of  these 
pioneers  in  missionary  work  has  before  been  published. 
Miss  Stubbs  has  done  a  very  real  and  important  service  to 
the  cause  of  missions  in  making  the  lives  of  these  great  men 
live  for  the  inspiration  of  younger  generations  of  to-day. 

R.  FLETCHER  MOORSHEAD,  M.B.,  F.R.C.S. 

The  Appeal  of  Medical  Missions 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

The  author  is  Secretary  of  the  Medical  Mission  Auxiliary 
of  the  British  Baptist  Mission  Society  and  Baptist  Zenana 
Mission.  He  gives  a  general  survey  of  the  main  consider- 
ations upon  which  the  Medical  Mission  enterprise  is  based, 
presenting  a  true  conception  of  the  need,  value  and  importance 
of  this  great  work  in  the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  Dr.  Moore- 
head  knows  his  subject  well  and  he  gives  a  wealth  of  inter- 
esting facts  regarding  The  Character  and  Purpose  of  Medical 
Missions — The  Origin  and  Authority,  Justification,  Need, 
Value — The  Practice  of  Medical  Missions,  Woman's  Sphere 
in  Ihem,   Training  for,  Home  Base,  Failure,  Appeal,  etc. 

JAMES  S.  DENNIS,  D.  D. 

The  Modern  Call  of  Missions : 

Studies  In  Some  of  the  Larger  Aspects  of  a  Great 
Enterprise.    8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

"This  is  a  magnificent  presentation  of  the  call  of  missions, 
showing  their  great  and  sweeping  influence  on  human  life 
and  social  progress.  It  is  a  logical  and  searching  study  of 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  as  it  goes  into  other  lands  and  there 
meets  the  facts  and  elements  that  make  up  the  life  of  the 
people.  Dr.  Dennis  has  had  the  personal  experiences  and 
knowledge  which  enable  him  _  to  speak  with  authority.  An 
exceedingly  valuable  contribution  to  the  missionary  literature 
of   the    day." — Herald   and   Presbyter. 

ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

Epoch  Makers  of  Modern  Missions 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

.The  author  of  "Where  the  Book  Speaks,"  has  given  in 
these  College  of  Missions  Lectures"  a  series  of  sketches  of 
modern  missionary  leaders  which  for  clearness,  brevity, 
directness  of  style  and  inspirational  value,  have  rarely  been 
surpassed.  Each  characterization  is  truly  "much  in  little," 
and  the  book  is  a  distinct  and  most  acceptable  addition  to 
missionary  biography. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


ROBERT  E.  SPEER         The  Cole  Lectures  for  191 1. 

Some  Great  Leaders  in  the  World 
Movement    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

Mr.  Speer  in  his  characteristic  inspiring  way  has  pre- 
sented the  key  note  of  the  lives  of  six  of  the  World's  great- 
est missionaries:  Raymond  Lull,  the  crusading  spirit  in  mis- 
sions; William  Carey,  the  problems  of  the  pioneer;  Alexander 
Duff,  Missions  and  Education;  George  Bowen,  the  ascetic 
ideal  in  missions;  John  Lawrence,  politics  and  missions;  and 
Charles  G.  Gordon,  modern  missionary  knight-errancy. 

S.  M.  ZWEMER,  F.RG.S.,  and  Others 

Islam  and  Missions 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

This  volume  presents  the  papers  read  at  the  Second 
Conference  on  Missions  to  Moslems,  recently  held  in  Luck- 
now,  India.  The  contributors  are  all  experts  of  large  ex- 
perience in   such  mission  effort. 

VAN  SOMMER,  ANNIE,  and  Others 

Daylight  in  the  Harem 

A  New  Era  for  Moslem  Women.    In  Press. 

Woman's  work  for  Woman  is  nowhere  more  needed  than 
en  the  part  of  Christian  women  for  their  sisters  of  Islam. 
It  is  a  most  difficult  field  of  service,  but  this  volume  by  au- 
thors long  and  practically  interested  in  this  important  Chris- 
tian ministry,  demonstrates  how  effectually  this  work  has 
opened  and  is  being  carried  forward  with  promising  results. 

ROBERT  A.  HUME,  P.P. 

An  Interpretation  of  India's  Religious 

[I!  fO-rxr^T     Introduction  by  President  King,  LLtD. 
History  ofOberlin  College 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  author  of  this  careful,  though  popular,  study,  is 
eminently  qualified  to  deal  with  the  subject  of  his  thought- 
ful volume.  Equipped  for  this  purpose  through  long  resi- 
dence in  India  and  intimate  study  Df  India's  religious  his- 
tory, what  he  says  will  be  accepted  as  the  estimate  and  in- 
terpretation of  an  authority. 

MARGARET  E.  BURTON 

The  Education  of  Women  in  China 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  author  of  this  scholarly  study  of  the  Chinese  woman 
and  education  is  the  daughter  of  Prof.   Ernest  E.   Burton,  of 

the  University  of   Chicago The  work  is  probably  the 

most  thorough  study  of  an  important  phase  of  the  economic 
development  of  the  world's  most  populous  country  that  hag 
appeared- 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS— BIOGRAPHY 


DArflEL  McGILVARY,  D.D. 

A  Half  Century  Among  the  Siamese 
and  the  Lao 

An  Autobiography  of  Daniel  McGilvary,  D.D. 
With  an  Introduction  by  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D. 
Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $2.00. 

There  is  no  more  fascinating  story  in  fiction,  or  in  that 
truth  which  is  stranger  than  fiction  The  years  of  toil  and 
privation  of  loneliness  and  sometimes  of  danger;  how  the 
missionaries  persevered  with  splendid  faith  and  courage  until 
the  foundations  of  a  prosperous  mission  were  laid  are  por- 
traved  with  graphic  power.  It  is  a  book  of  adventure  and 
human  interest  and  a  notable  contribution  to  American  for* 
eign  missionary  literature." — Presbyterian  Banner. 

WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS,  P.P.,  L.H.P< 

A  Modern  Pioneer  in  Korea 

The  Life  Story  of  Henry  G.  Appenzeller.  Illus- 
trated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

This  life  is  another  stirring  chapter  in  the  record  of 
modern  missionary  heroism.  The  author's  name  is  a  guar- 
antee of  its  thoroughness,  accuracy  and  interest.  Dr.  Griffis 
has  woven  a  most  picturesque  and  interesting  background  of 
Korean  landscape,  life  and  history.  It  is  a  book  that  will 
win  interest  in  missionary  effort. 

MARGARET  E.  BURTON 

Notable  Women  of  Modern  China. 

Illustrated,  i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  author's  earlier  work  on  the  general  subject  of 
Wbmen's  Education  in  China,  indicates  her  ability  to  treat 
with  peculiar  interest  and  discernment  the  characters  making 
up  this  volume  of  striking  biographies.  If  these  women  are 
types  to  be  followed  by  a  great  company  of  like  aspirations 
the    future    of  the   nation   is   assured. 

ROBER  T  McCHE  YNE  MA  TEER 

Character-Building  in  China 

The  Life  Story  of  Julia  Brown  Mateer.  Illustra- 
ted, i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"Gives  a  vivid,  many-sided  picture  of  missionary  work. 
It  is,  in  fact,  an  answer  to  such  questions  as,  How  is  mis- 
sionary life  practically  lived?  It  is  of  engrossing  interest 
alike  to  the  advocates  of  missionary  work  and  general  readers 
who  enjoy  real  glimpses  of  foreign  and  pagan  civilization."—* 
Presbyterian  Advance. 


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